Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When dissidents attack Sam at the Decepticon Base, the results are surprising for all involved.
1. Chapter 1

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Summary: When dissident Decepticons attack Sam, Soundwave and Soundwave's Cassettes, a sequence of events leads to a surprising result.

Continuity: Movieverse, with a lot of G1 elements.

A/N: From an idea given to me by Lady_Frost on AO3. This takes place post Code Of Cybertron events, but does not invoke the Code. This is set just over a year after the end of "Living With Autobots." It was going to be a one shot, but now looks like being more. Although this is Movieverse, G1 Soundwave fits the story better, so that's the Soundwave I'm using in this fic. For simplicity, in this fic, Soundwave only has five Cassettes. Thanks to Rian Moeru for help with developing this idea.

1joor is about 6.5 human hours.

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter One.

Sam was at the Decepticon Base when the attack happened.

The peace process was moving along, albeit slowly, due to stubborn humans, recalcitrant new arrivals on both sides, and bureaucracy, but progress was being made. All three sides were still at a ceasefire stage, with new ones being made and agreed, sometimes with modifications, as the time limit on earlier ceasefire agreements began to expire.

Negotiations had reached a point where Sam was needed to put forwards the Decepticon's point of view to other humans, but using human manners and methods. That meant Sam was spending several days a week at the Decepticon Base, and was, on this day, unkinking the wires of all five of Soundwave's Cassetticons.

As Sam was the Assistant Tactical Officer, most of Sam's time was spent with Soundwave, and although Sam knew Frenzy and Ravage at least on a nodding basis, he wasn't so well acquainted with the other three Cassettes, Ratbat, Rumble, and Laserbeak, something Soundwave had set out to rectify at the earliest opportunity.

He knew Rumble had the piledriver arms, and had been the one to bring the Decepticon's last Base down around their collective audios after getting overenergised, and he had heard of Laserbeak, but Sam didn't actually know either of them. He only found out about Ratbat when Soundwave called the Casseticon in question out, but after a few sessions of wire-unkinking, he and the five had all become quite well acquainted, and he'd sometimes entertain them during a break or a small stall in the talks when he wasn't needed, to tell them some random and strange (to them) facts about humans.

Laserbeak had at first been a problem; Sam had received a few nasty gashes in his arms when the more agile of the two flighted Cassettes had found him unwilling to strike back with more than his hands, until Soundwave had told Sam, in Laserbeak's hearing, that Sam could attack back with his laser cutter, as long as he stuck to the edges of the wings. Sam had only needed to actually use it on him once, and Laserbeak had managed to avoid the strike. However, after that, there were no more attempts to slash open Sam's flesh by the flying Cassette.

On this occasion they were in a room just off the corridor, not far from the medical bay, and Sam was finishing up on unkinking Ratbat, who seemed to Sam to be the least able of the five Cassettes. Sam had earlier unkinked the rest of the quintet's wires, so all were in various stages of relaxation, from Frenzy, who was back to his usual active self, down to Ravage, who was getting up from being stretched on the floor, the purr of his engine still resonating through his frame.

"There, does that feel better?" Sam asked, carefully pulling the flier's wings to full extension as he used a cloth to brush grit from the creases and joints, and Ratbat squeaked and wriggled his agreement. Sam helped him up from the floor, and Soundwave recalled him into his chest, and they all moved out of the room. The plan was for Soundwave and his Cassettes to walk down the corridor to the Medbay with Sam, and for all of them to get some refreshments there, for the medic kept human victuals available for Sam. They had gone barely two steps when they heard running steps, and then a cry of "There he is! Get him!"

At first, Sam thought it was an attack practice drill; he'd been doing them at both Bases, a simulated attack drill, as there were dissidents and opponents to the peace on both sides. Nobody thought they would be necessary, but it was thought that they had better be safe than be sorry, better overprepared than not prepared enough.

Both sides held surprise drills to make sure everyone was ready, so Sam had been trained in what to do, which was, if he couldn't run, to hold his own until help arrived. With four Cassettes inadvertently blocking his way, running wasn't happening. Sam turned, grabbing the laser scalpel he still took with him and kept on him every visit, activated it, and turned to face the source of the shout.

Immediately he knew something was wrong, as two mechs came barrelling towards them. One he didn't recognise, a mech whose alt was a helicopter, who stopped and began firing at Soundwave. As Sam heard Soundwave cry out, and turned to see laser burns and holes in Soundwave's hide, Sam realised this was no drill, for the lasers used in drills burned Cybertronian paint, but did not pierce the hide beneath. Soundwave had holes leaking energon, so Soundwave was obviously injured.

He recognised the second mech, the mono-opticked mech who was reaching for him; it was Swindle, and Sam guessed his year of immunity was over. He swept the laser scalpel forward, making Swindle draw his hand back, before he himself backed off, coming to a halt as he found Rumble behind him, who was himself backed up against Soundwave's legs.

"Vortex,-Swindle,-stop!" Soundwave ordered.

"Not until we destroy the human insect who lost us the AllSpark and murdered Megatron!" shouted Swindle. He reached for Sam again, who didn't hold back, swinging the scalpel down and taking off the end of one of Swindle's claws.

Swindle pulled back and said 'That's enough of _that_ , insect!" and threw a small, egg-shaped device down in front of Sam. Sam didn't like the look of it, it looked too much like a grenade to Sam, and the human booted it back towards the small red mech. He turned to see where the Cassetticons were, and as he did, he heard the bang.

"DOWN!" he yelled, throwing himself over Ravage's hind legs and almost falling on top of Rumble and Frenzy as they did as he told them. Laserbeak was beyond them, almost flat on the floor, so was the only one not to get hit by the multiple tiny fragments of sharpened metal that blasted into them.

Sam screamed as he caught the most of it, but there was so much that Rumble, Ravage, Frenzy, and Soundwave all got hit by a greater or lesser amount. As Rumble and Frenzy stood, whining and whirring in pain,Soundwave decided this had to end, and fast. He saw Laserbeak, and commanded him "Laserbeak, reconnaissance and distract." Laserbeak moved, took flight, and began swooping at the heads and optics of the attackers. The helicopter mech tried to shoot him down, but the little Cassette was too agile.

"Ravage-attack," Soundwave commanded. "Distract-and-divide." Ravage leaped between Swindle and Vortex, swiping at one, feinting at the other, and not allowing the two to regroup.

Soundwave looked down to see that the human boy was still conscious, but had multiple small fragments embedded in his back. He moaned, in obvious pain, as blood flowed down his body and limbs from the painful injuries caused by the fragments, running down him and dripping onto the floor. Energon was also dripping, and Soundwave saw that Ravage, Rumble, and Frenzy were all sporting superficial but painful injuries from the grenade. The human boy was lucky; the fragments could have gone deeper, but kicking the Cybertronian frag grenade away had been a good idea, the increased distance from the blast ensured the fragments were not embedded deep enough to endanger his soft internal structures. From this, Soundwave deduced that Swindle had wanted to take Sam alive, to torture him to death. The human could still be helpful for the peace process, not least to explain that this attack was not officially sanctioned.

"Laserbeak,-retrieve-Swiftstrike," he instructed, and when he saw Laserbeak scoop the human up by the arms and fly upwards, he decided he had to finish this now, but did not want the human or his Cassettes to be in the crossfire.

"Rumble-return. Frenzy-return," he said, opening his chest to recall the two ground Cassettes. "Laserbeak,-take-Swiftstrike-to-place-of-safety."

With hindsight, Soundwave realised he should perhaps have been more specific. He had meant the Medbay, behind him, where Laserbeak could fly the human to be treated and guarded by Dr Syn, and Soundwave could guard and not let the two dissident mechs get to them.

However, because he had not been specific, Laserbeak applied her own definition of a place of safety.

As Frenzy and Rumble leaped into Soundwave's open chest compartment, Laserbeak turned and abruptly stooped, still holding the barely conscious human teen in her feet. She was careful not to allow Swiftstrike's body to impact against the door or the chest as she carried Swiftstrike with him into Soundwave's chest compartment after the two ground Cassettes.

Soundwave thought for a millisecond of instructing Laserbeak to fly back out and take the teen to the Medbay, but that meant the boy would again be vulnerable, and Vortex could catch them both in his laser beams as he began to widen the focus. No, Swiftstrike was as safe as he could be, and Soundwave closed his chest as he faced down his opponents.

One blast of his sonic shoulder cannon had them both reeling, and Soundwave saw a pair of Seekers appear behind Vortex, and knew they would deal with the crazed helo mech. He grabbed Swindle by the neck and said "Desist-attack."

"No, there will be no peace, I'd rather be deactivated first!" Swindle replied defiantly.

"As-Swindle-demands," Soundwave replied, and pushed Swindle to the floor with one hand. As Swindle struggled, Soundwave applied pressure to the neck in his other hand, and ripped the bottom end of the neck free of the body, ripping out the wires until they hung loose. Throwing the head aside, he gripped the sides of the neck either side of the body and pulled, until the body split with an awful screech. Coolant and energon splattered onto the floor and up Soundwave as sputtering wires and broken connections flared, and then a bright light rose from the body, which flickered, and then flashed, and then dissipated.

By now, the two Seekers had beaten and blasted the crazed Vortex into unconsciousness. As they drew closer, and the smoke of the battle began to dissipate, the two Seekers were revealed to be Starscream and Thundercracker. They walked over to where Soundwave stood over Swindle's broken shell, and Starscream toed it a couple of times, checking for reactions, before looking at Soundwave.

"Was that necessary?" Starscream asked.

"Swindle-against-peace. Swindle-endangered-Soundwave's-Cassettes-and-Swiftstrike. Swindle-given-chance-to-cease. Swindle-refused."

"What a shame, it was a waste, but I guess the medic can use him for spares," Starscream said.

"Soundwave-must-find-medic," Soundwave said, turning and heading for the Medbay. As Ravage fell into step beside Soundwave, Starscream saw the damage from the grenade on the quadrupedal Cassette.

"A hidescourer? Swindle used _that_? Against you and your Cassettes?"

Affirmative-and-negative," Soundwave replied.

"What do you mean, yes _and_ no?" Starscream asked.

"Affirmative:-Swindle-deployed-the-explosive-device, Cassettes-caught-in-blast. However-device's-intended-target,-was-Swiftstrike."

"Was he hurt? Badly?" Starscream asked as they walked into the med bay.

"Affirmative," Soundwave said.

"Okay, where is he?" Dr Syn asked, walking over to them. "He'll need assessment and treatment."

Soundwave pressed his eject button.

"Laserbeak,-Swiftstrike,-eject," he said. As his chest opened, Laserbeak flew out, holding in her claws a human who was now unconscious, and had smears of pink energon on him. Soundwave beckoned the Cassette down, and pointed to the medic.

"Not energon burns again, Laserbeak should never have put Swiftstrike in with injured mechs!" the medic groaned. "Give him here!"

Laserbeak, following Soundwave's unspoken commands, put the human gently in the medic's hands. The medic looked at the human's back and hissed.

'Whatever hit him has almost made scrap of the human's back! I'll rinse off the energon, sedate the human, and then start removing the slivers of metal. Send Barricade out for twelve bags of saline and eight pints of A-positive blood. The human will need fluid replacements, and to be kept sedated for some time while he heals. What happened?"

Soundwave sent Starscream a quick recording of what he'd seen and worked out, and Starscream quickly reviewed it before speaking.

"Soundwave says Swindle used a small-grade hidescourer grenade against Swiftstrike. We think he wanted to capture him alive and torture him," Starscream said.

"That Pitspawned glitch flea!" Dr Syn said as he soaked and then wrung out a clean polishing cloth, prompting a shocked look from Thundercracker. "Doesn't he ever learn?"

"It seems not, but Soundwave has made sure he not only won't _repeat_ any of his mistakes, but neither will he _learn_ from them," Starscream replied, not looking at all fazed by Dr Syn's colourful language.

"How badly?" the medic asked as he carefully wiped the energon from Sam's exposed skin, and then held him under a light flow of water to rinse the remainder, - plus a few fragments of the grenade - from Sam's skin.

"It was terminal," Starscream replied, as Thundercracker put the unconscious Vortex he'd been half-dragging on to a table.

"I'd like to say it's a shame, and that he'll be missed, but I'm not feeling it right now," the medic confessed, as he brought out a fine needle and two tiny phials.

"Swiftstrike, if you can hear me, I'm going to sedate you, and give you something to help with the pain." The medic gave Sam the contents of one phial, and half the contents of the second. "Thank Primus we got some human medicines early on in the peace talks," Dr Syn said. Then, after ensuring Sam did not respond to any stimuli, he brought out a dish and activated his microtweezers. Carefully, he began removing fragments of the grenade from the human's back. Soundwave activated his own set, usually not used for medical tasks, and began to help.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

It took a joor for the medic and Soundwave to pick the pieces of grenade out of the human, the Cassettes, and Soundwave himself, and the medic scanned the human every hour or so, giving him a little more sedative or pain killer as needed depending on what his scans showed. Soundwave grabbed some blue roll and wiped out his Cassette compartment, wiping away the mixture of blood and energon that had got on every surface, as Dr Syn got Frenzy to help connect Sam up to the blood and saline Barricade had managed to get for Sam. Dr Syn wrapped bandages around sterile pads he put on Sam's back and round the torso, carefully stuck dressings over the injuries on his limbs, and finished up by wrapping him, minus arms, in a piece of fabric, toga-style.

During this time the other medic, Headfixer, had strapped Vortex down to a table and taken him offline ready for repairs, retrieved Swindle's remains, covered them with a tarp, and cleaned up the damage, debris, and spilled fluids at the site of the attack.

Soundwave recalled all of his Cassettes, and then looked at the human.

"Swiftstrike-defended-Cassettes-at-cost-to-himself. Also, energon-has-been-combined."

"I believe the latter was accidental, Soundwave," the medic said.

"That-not-relevant,-and-Swiftstrike-defended-Cassettes-intentionally."

"He certainly seems to have shielded them from the worst, but I would recommend he _not_ try and be a shield again, his back is going to bear some extensive but _very_ interesting-looking scars," Dr Syn remarked.

"Is Swiftstrike-safe-to-be-moved?" Soundwave asked.

"Well, he's got enough sedative to be insensate for the next six hours, and enough painkillers to keep him pain free for a bit longer," the medic said. "He's been fortunate to have not broken any bones, but he's going to come out in some impressive bruises by tomorrow. But he's not going to be harmed if he's moved, no. Why do you ask?"

"Until-other-dissidents-identified,-Swiftstrike-needs-to-recover-in-safety," Soundwave explained. "Swiftstrike-now-family; Soundwave-will-keep-Swiftstrike-safe." Soundwave picked up the human teen, and opened his Cassette compartment. He carefully lowered Sam into it, making sure his blood and saline bags did not snag, and then closed it again.

"Swiftstrike-now-Soundwave's-responsibility."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A bit of a belated note, but the Decepticon medics Dr Syn and Headfixer are both the OC's of writer MeowthTwo on this site and are used with her permission.

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Two.

Sam stirred, and felt a vague ache, which roused him from his sleep. He turned over, and stretched, or tried to, because the act of stretching turned the vague aching of his body to a very specific pain that encompassed his back, and extended partway down both his arms and legs. His eyes snapped open, as three things became very aware to him.

Firstly, the pain wasn't hugely sore, but he felt as if it could, at any moment, cross that line, and a groan escaped his mouth. Secondly, it wasn't pitch black wherever he was; there was a faint glow, and a definite warmth at his back, and what light there was served to illustrate he was in an enclosed space, big enough to stretch in, but narrow and tall otherwise. Thirdly, he remembered the attack, which was enough to almost, but not quite, wake him completely; he still felt a little woozy, but the memory also made him sit up rapidly, in spite of the pain.

He didn't know where he was, the dim light provided showed him unfamiliar settings. He touched a drip stand with two almost-empty bags on them, attached to tubes running to needles in his arms. He took off the tape holding them down and removed them; he doubted he still needed anything from the drained bags. He felt the sheet slip, and carefully wrapped it around himself, tying two ends over one shoulder to keep it from sliding off.

He was lying on a hard but not at all cold rectangular metal surface, which had a deep groove or gap running down it, dividing it into two. Right at the back was a rectangular gap big enough to hold another bit of floor which would have increased the area he lay on by a third, but when he peered down, he couldn't see the bottom. He could hear muffled speech outside, not clearly enough to make out the words, but the tone suggested the Decepticon medic.

Standing, he found that the back wall was warm, and provided some of the illumination, although it didn't come from what looked like two conical gears mounted there. The two narrow sides were metal, but the front wall was more opaque rather than solid metal, suggesting it was something more like glass or plastic.

There appeared to be a thin metal strip at the front, about 15 centimetres or so above the floor, and Sam hitched up his sheet to avoid tripping on it as he stepped onto it. Sam felt the metal strip flex slightly beneath his weight, but it did hold, and didn't feel at all flimsy. The voice outside was suddenly halted by Soundwave's own voice, which seemed louder than the medic's.

"Swiftstrike-now-fully-awake, Swiftstrike,-eject."

Sam barely had time to process the words before the surface in front of him tipped forwards, and he didn't even have time to work out it was opening like a hinged door before the metal floor beneath him pushed up and the surface beneath his feet briefly turned convex. The effect of both of these movements sent him unexpectedly flying upwards, out through the opening that the tipping front surface had revealed. For a moment he was flying through the air, a cry of surprise, shock, and fear escaping his lips, his legs kicking against the sheet and his arms flailing, as he looked down at Soundwave and Doctor Syn from where he had been flung, before the force of gravity became greater than the acceleration of his body, and he began to fall.

He didn't fall far; Soundwave's hands carefully caught him, and he was pleased to notice that although his back throbbed, the pain was nothing like it had been earlier. Soundwave just as gently put him down on a nearby surface, before he lifted the drip stand and attached tubes with needles out of his chest compartment and put it down next to Sam.

"Wait, what, was I in _there_?" Sam exclaimed, turning first to the doctor, and then Soundwave. "Why? And what was with the turbocharged springboard in there?"

"Swiftstrike-in-danger-until-all-dissidents-found-and-neutralised," Soundwave replied. "Conclusion; Safest-place-inside-Cassette-compartment, required space available."

"Soundwave has a mechanism, much like a Cassette deck, to eject his Cassetticons, but much more powerful, firing them into the air. This gives them time and space to transform from Cassette to robot, and in the case of the fliers, a head start in getting into the air. Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage have shock absorbing spring joints in their legs enabling them to land on the ground safely once they have transformed," said the medic.

"Well, I _don't_!" Sam said. "It looks like something that would be fun if I had warning, and was entirely well, but _neither_ were the case here!"

"Swiftstrike-only-ejected if-on-eject-module. Such-deployment-prefixed;-Swiftstrike's-name-and-eject," Soundwave replied. Sam contemplated this, and nodded.

"Okay, that was the situation, fair do's" he said. "So now I know what to expect, it won't be such a shock next time, if there _is_ a next time."

"Swiftstrike-still-endangered. Dissidents-not-yet-neutralised," Soundwave stated. "Conclusion; Cassette-storage-compartment-safest-recharge-location."

"It seems Soundwave has decided you are his responsibility, Swiftstrike, and as such, has decided to ensure your safety by putting you in his chest when you need to sleep. I have to admit, it _is_ the safest place on the Base in this sort of situation."

"It is? Aren't there rooms where you can erect force fields and lock the door?" Sam asked.

"There are, but even you must know, Swiftstrike, that anyone with the right expertise can pick locks and deactivate force fields, and this Base is full of mechs with those skills. Soundwave can detect anyone approaching even when recharging, and wake. Not only can nobody pick open Soundwave's chest without waking him, they can't even get close enough to attack without doing so. So yes, Swiftstrike, Soundwave is right, until we find out and remove the dangerous dissidents from the equation, inside his chest compartment _is_ the safest place for you to sleep."

Sam pulled a face, but nodded.

"Can I at least have a sleeping bag and a pillow?" he asked. "I'm not used to sleeping on hard metal without a pillow or covers."

"Agreed," Soundwave said.

"Why do you say am I your responsibility?" Sam asked. "Because you're the tactical officer, and I'm your subordinate, I suppose."

"Energon-mixed-creating-Energon-bond. Swiftstrike-attempted-to-protect Cassettes. Custom-dictates-Swiftstrike-now-family," Soundwave replied.

"What do you mean, _family_? I _have_ a family!" Sam said. "And the energon and my blood mixing was _accidental_! Does that mean if two combatants go hand to hand and damage each other and their energon is mixed, they become family?"

"It doesn't apply to two opponents, or even most accidental mixing, but not only did you act to try and shield the Cassettes, your energon mixed with theirs and probably Soundwave's own, while Soundwave and the Cassettes were protecting you, and _that_ counts," Dr Syn explained. "It doesn't mean you can't still go to your human family or that you'll be taken away from them, but while you are around Soundwave, which means anywhere within this Base, and any place where he and you interact, or if he realises you are in trouble somewhere and he can get there, he will care for you, protect you, and look after you as if you were kin." The doctor picked up the drip stand and put it aside, before saying "Now, we've cleared that up, Swiftstrike, can you remove the sheet and lie down on your front so I can check and re-dress your injuries?"

"Um, okay, I guess? Sam said, untying the knot over his shoulders and taking the cloth from his back, but keeping the sheet clasped to his groin while he lay down, with winces and muttered curses. Soundwave stayed, not saying or doing anything, but watching everything.

The medic carefully cut off the bandages and removed the dressings carefully, tossing them into a large plastic bucket Sam knew from his nurse work was used as a bin. He carefully washed Sam's back, which was sore, but Sam knew this was necessary. When Dr Syn very carefully used his pressor beams to spread some antiseptic cream on his back, Sam sighed in relief; not only was it nice and cool, but it seemed to contain a topical painkiller. He cleaned and re-dressed the other injuries in the same manner, and scanned Sam. He then indicated Sam could get up, which he did, re-tying his sheet.

"Well, there's no sign of infection, and as far as I can tell you're healing at a normal rate, but you've got widespread and impressively coloured sub dermal haematomas - colloquially known as 'bruising' - all over your body. I believe it is a common response of the human body when damaged. You've still suffered quite a major trauma, so I suggest drinking extra fluids, and I'll give you a vitamin supplement to help your body stay healthy."

"When can I wear my own clothes again?" Sam asked. "This covers me for the decency and nudity taboo purposes, but I'd rather _not_ look like I'm trying to re-enact something to do with the Greek or Roman period."

"Well, if it's comfortable enough, as soon as your ready, but between the tenderness of your damaged skin, and the added bulk of the dressings, you may wish to avoid tight garments, and let your belt out by a hole until you're sufficiently healed," Dr Syn said. "You should also avoid unkinking wires until you are more fully healed."

"Okay," Sam agreed.

Once asked, Barricade helpfully went and retrieved a spare set of Jeans and a tee from the spare sets Sam had stashed at the Base for longer stays, and as Sam put them on (taking the medic's advice about the belt) Dr Syn showed Sam his old clothes, which resembled bloodstained rags. Sam sighed and told Dr Syn to throw them out. Dr Syn then gave him back his laser scalpel, which he had dropped as the hidescourer had gone off.

"Okay, Soundwave, let's see how Ravage, Frenzy, and Rumble are doing, call them out," Dr Syn said.

"Ravage,-eject,-Frenzy-eject,-Rumble, eject," Soundwave replied, and as Sam watched, three Cassettes flew up, much as he had, but more gracefully, one after the other, and he saw what Dr Syn had described; as they reached the top of the arc of their ascent, they unfolded into robot mode from the Cassette mode, and when they landed they did so without a stumble or a waver, one after the other, Ravage slightly ahead of the other two, and the other two behind him, creating three points of a triangle. Sam was impressed.

Ravage moved forwards first, and as the medic indicated him to, rolled on to one side so the doctor could examine the worst side. The doctor beckoned Sam over to look, and pointed at the scratches and stipple that marred Ravage's otherwise smooth matte hide.

"This is what remains of the grenade damage that Ravage received. In a day or two it will be entirely healed. His skin is tougher and self-repairs faster than yours, it is true, but if you hadn't shielded him, it would have been more extensive. Hidescourer grenades are designed to cause damage to our armour, so a follow-up shot will cause more damage, with you and your soft skin, it caused many initially minor but painful wounds which could still have caused severe damage overall." The doctor paused for a moment, and then continued to speak. "You put yourself at risk to protect these three, and Soundwave feels he owes you a debt, not as rigid as that of the Code, but just as binding. By protecting his dependants, but coming to harm yourself in the process, you have earned your place amongst them, and to Soundwave, this is as binding as the Code. As long as you live, if you need his assist and can convey that need to him, you will receive it."

"He won't need to follow me or be with me at all times, will he?" Sam asked nervously.

"No, but he will be available if at all possible if you are in need of his assist. You can even call him, though I'm not sure how, you humans don't have com-codes you can exchange."

"Humans swap cell numbers," Sam remarked.

"Medic-can-install-SIM-interface-in-Soundwave's-communication-array," Soundwave suggested.

"Probably, as long as you can deal with the conversion you'll need to both receive calls, and to make them to Swiftstrike's cell, and convert them so he will receive them," Dr Syn confirmed.

"Soundwave's-specialisation-communications; Soundwave-will-deal-with-it," Soundwave confirmed.

After checking Rumble and Frenzy, Barricade was sent out to obtain a cell SIM, and some food for Sam, who was by now feeling pretty hungry, and when he returned, both Soundwave and the medic decided, as the time was available, that there was no time like the present to install it. Sam spent 20 minutes devouring pizza and drinking some soda which made him feel a bit better. Dr Syn suggested Sam stay to help as a nurse, so he spent the next three hours both asking and answering questions as he assisted the medic. By the end of it, Sam was tired and sore.

Soundwave was online again soon, and quickly noticed Sam's posture. He scanned Sam, and said "Swiftstrike-is-weary; Swiftstrike-should-rest."

"But I've barely _done_ anything today! I shouldn't be tired yet!" Sam said.

"Your body is healing, Swiftstrike, that will tire you," Dr Syn said.

"Swiftstrike-will-rest," Soundwave said, reaching a finger and thumb out, and gently holding Sam's head. "Swiftstrike-recharge," he said, and Sam suddenly felt unspeakably, overpoweringly tired, his eyes closing of their own accord as his body went limp and slumped into Soundwave's hand.

"Swiftstrike-return," he said, placing Sam into his chest cavity, then looking at the three Cassettes. "Ravage-return, Frenzy-return, Rumble-return." The three obeyed, Ravage leaping up and into Soundwave's chest, Rumble and Frenzy following a few seconds later.


	3. Chapter 3

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Three.

Sam woke with a sense of deja vu, for he woke up in the same place he had woken earlier. He was a little annoyed at Soundwave for shutting him down like that, and curious to know how he'd done it. Sam had to admit the sleep seemed to have done him good, he felt rested and wasn't so sore, but as he realised an important matter needed to be dealt with, and soon, he stepped up as he had yesterday, recalling how doing so had resulted in him being brought out yesterday, and hoping for the same result, which it did.

"Swiftstrike-eject" he heard, and braced himself, and sure enough, once again he was thrown up and out of Soundwave's chest. This time he stayed still and didn't shriek, and once again Soundwave caught him. He was pleased to notice he was in the med bay, as that's where the toilet was.

"Put me down, please, I gotta pee, sorry, but eating and drinking has it's consequences," Sam said, crossing his legs. Chuckling, Dr Syn put his hands out for Sam to climb into, took a few steps to the human facilities, and put him down. Sam quickly went into the bathroom, and a few moments later Dr Syn heard the sound of water striking water, and a sigh of relief.

Sam exited a few minutes later, looking more comfortable and relaxed, and happily climbed back into Doctor Syn's hands. Dr Syn took him back to where Soundwave waited, and changed Sam's dressings. He gave Sam some breakfast cereal, then he dressed, and then Soundwave put his hands out. Sam climbed up.

"Negotiations-with-humans-starting-soon. Swiftstrike's-presence-required."

Sam nodded, for it certainly seemed that all three sides could see the advantage of having Sam there. As a human who had lived and worked beside members of both sides (and fought himself against one) he was unique, and could use those experiences to aid discussions and negotiations between the three groups.

It also had it's problems, though, Sam had been a bit startled but not entirely surprised when he found out some of the new arrivals at the Autobot Base didn't actually trust him due to having a Decepticon rank, he had hoped someone would explain it to them. However he had been both shocked and hurt when he overheard Cliffjumper - who had met him - expressing the same opinion. It made Sam wonder if any of the other 'bots, or any of the humans involved, felt the same way.

He pushed these thoughts to the back of his head as Soundwave took him out, and put him down by Barricade, who would take him there. Hopefully, once this particular ceasefire became longer and more detailed, he could spend some time with some of the new 'bots and answer any questions they had. And, hopefully, clear the air between Cliffjumper and himself

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam sighed in relief as the ceasefire was finalised and agreed to, and the three representatives, one from each group, signed it. It had been a long process, but finally, the minutiae of the human miners being transported with the help of both groups of Cybertronians had been argued over, compromises had been suggested and amended, and at last accepted by all three parties.

He knew some of the issues that the compromise had temporarily put aside would need to be addressed sooner or later, but for now, what they had would work. He and Soundwave, as well as the Autobots, would need to discuss how to explain their side and some associated issues to the humans, who were eager to get into space and look for new and habitable planets.

As if reading his mind, Starscream spoke to Sam, as Sam climbed into Soundwave's outstretched hands.

"Skywarp and I may have to take some time away from Earth, to scan the nearest planets and see if they are initially capable of supporting life, and if there are signs that any sapient forms have developed independently on them, or have been colonised already by other races. Then we need to look for any signs of cyclical disturbances or disasters that might affect any colony that settles there. To do the latter, we are going to need a longer and sustainable ceasefire so I can safely leave without some of the current forces, or new arrivals, breaking the ceasefire and endangering the future treaty."

"It might be prudent to make sure the humans are aware that new arrivals might not know or not accept the ceasefire, it's always been a risk, so it's worth reminding the humans of this possibility anyway. If it's a case of you going and not being there to explain to the new arrivals or some of the old ones getting antsy, why not make Soundwave and Barricade, and Thundercracker if you think the fliers will want a rep, into an interim leadership council to deal with things while you and Skywarp are gone?" Sam suggested. He looked at the two named who were present. " if you'd be willing to do so, that is?

"I'd be agreeable," Barricade said, while Soundwave just inclined his head.

"That's a good idea, Swiftstrike, though some find Thundercracker a bit prickly, to say the least. However, if more fliers do turn up, what are we going to do with Vortex? He did join in the attack on you, and even if he says he was pressured into it, or even promises that he'll take no more violent actions, he is neither the most trustworthy nor the most mentally stable mech we have," Starscream remarked to Sam, Soundwave, and Barricade. "Plus, we need to find a way to find out who else amongst our ranks may take direct action to attempt to derail the peace, before it turns into something we cannot avoid or contain. The attempt on Swiftstrike's life was bad enough, what about if someone decides to attack a human settlement?

"I can sound out my mechs, and reinforce the potential benefits of peace to them, if need be," Barricade said.

"Soundwave-will-check-their-minds," Soundwave said.

"You can do that?" Sam asked. "You can read minds? Undetected?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.

"To which question?" Sam asked.

"All," Soundwave replied.

"Can you-"

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.

"Oh, right," Sam said a bit sheepishly. "You can and you did."

He got into Barricade for the journey back, Barricade used his lights and sirens to clear the way to get back safely, something Sam had to admit had to be useful.

Soundwave was waiting for him outside, and took him in to the med bay, where Dr Syn gave him a couple of snack bars, while Barricade went out to get Sam some takeaway food.

Barricade's willingness to do this had at first surprised Sam, but he soon came to realise that Barricade loved having his wires unkinked, and was eager to curry favour with Sam to keep his own unkinking regular. The new arrivals had widened the pool of mechs wanting to take advantage of his skills quite a bit, and Barricade hoped that keeping Sam well-fed would encourage him to favour him slightly. Sam, whenever possible, did indulge him, including during times when he wasn't at the Decepticon Base, getting Bumblebee to drive him out to the Lookout, when he'd give them both a good unkinking, finished off by a quick polish using items Bumblebee kept in his trunk for that very purpose.

"Can I check your injuries, Swiftstrike?" Doctor Syn asked. Sam nodded, took off his T-shirt and loosened his pants, and lay down on his front.

Dr Syn first performed a gentle tactile examination, and then he ran a scanning beam down him.

"You were fortunate your face was turned away when that grenade went off. The injuries to your head will be easily hidden by your hair, and are healing well enough. Your back, buttocks, and upper legs in particular are going to scar, but with luck, the scarring will fade over time. I'm willing to clear you to return home, but would prefer it if you stayed overnight and let me re-dress those one more time. I can remove the dressings tomorrow, they'll probably finish healing well enough without them."

Sam yawned.

"That works for me, today was very tiring, and I just want to sleep." He looked up at Soundwave. "Yes, I know, until you've found all the dissidents, I need to sleep in your chest space again, but could I have that sleeping bag and pillow I asked for?" he said.

"Dropkick brought you a selection while you were negotiating, Swiftstrike," Dr Syn said. He went out, and brought back a handful of pillows in one hand, and about 8 sleeping bags in the other. "There you go, take your pick, I'll put the remainder in storage."

Looking through them, Sam was delighted to find that one was not just a sleeping bag, but one with an air mattress that had a pre-installed pump that plugged into the mains.

"Will this fit inside, once inflated? he asked.

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied.

"Great!" Sam said, and plugged it in, grabbing two pillows to go with it, while Dr Syn gathered up the rest and stowed them somewhere.

While the air bed inflated, Sam went to the bathroom to do his teeth and use the toilet. Once the air bed was inflated, Sam unplugged and sealed it, and Soundwave carefully put it in his chest, and the two pillows too. Then he opened his chest again and lowered his hands to Sam.

"Swiftstrike-return," he said. Sam got into the hands and allowed himself to be put inside Soundwave's chest compartment, and snuggled happily into the built in sleeping bag in the air mattress, and put a pillow under his head.

Between his weariness after helping with the ceasefire negotiations, the softer surface, the blanket over him, and the pleasant warmth given off by the back wall, Sam was soon asleep.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam awoke the next day, and climbed out of the air left it there, guessing Soundwave would remove it himself, stuffed his pillows down it, got dressed, and stepped up on to the convex step.

"Swiftstrike-eject," Soundwave said, and Sam was thrown up as usual, and seemed to be getting used to it, landing on his feet in Soundwave's hands with barely a wobble. Soundwave put him down, and Sam headed off to use the bathroom for morning ablutions as Soundwave removed the mattress. Then he returned, divesting himself of his clothing so the medic could take the dressings off and inspect his injuries.

"You're healing very well, Sam, you're fortunate to apparently have 'good genes', I think people say. As long as you wear a loose shirt, tucked in to prevent the waistband of your pants chafing the injuries in that area, you shouldn't need dressings. Here, put clean clothes on too, to reduce the risk of infections." Sam took the garments Doctor Syn was holding out and quickly dressed, tucking his T-shirt inside his Jeans as the medic had suggested. "I would actually take advantage of the fact we don't need you right here right now to go home or to the Autobots, and by the time you return we will have identified all the dissidents, and dealt with them in whatever way seems most appropriate."

"On that subject," Sam remarked, "what have you done with Swindle? And the other attacker? The one who was with Swindle?"

"Swindle-great-threat. Threat-neutralised-permanently. Vortex-status-uncertain," Soundwave said, and then looked at the medic.

"Vortex is currently being kept offline while we decide what to do with him," Dr Syn said. "I fear that executing him would cause anger, and be counter-productive. Swindle's death was in battle, as an active threat, but Vortex is a different matter. My suggestion would be to lock him into robot form and deactivate his weapons, which is what I have currently done. Any further action is not necessary right now, and will not be decided by me."

"Swindle's dead? Sam asked. "I guess it's nice to know he's not a threat now, but it's a shame it took him dying to achieve that."

"Peace-not-Swindle's-desire. Swindle-preferred-death. Soundwave-delivered," Soundwave explained.

"Okay," Sam said, still a little perplexed. Soundwave looked at the medic who elaborated.

"Swindle told Soundwave he'd rather die than allow peace, and Soundwave took him at his word." Sam nodded to show he understood.

"Soundwave-requires-Swiftstrike's-number," Soundwave said.

"Number?" Sam said, then remembered Soundwave now had a contactable SIM in him. Sam concentrated on thinking of the number, and then Sam's cell rang, just once. Sam picked it up and looked.

"Swiftstrike-save-number,-contact-Soundwave-if-needed," Soundwave said.

"Sure, Sam said, saving it under 'Soundwave'.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Barricade took Sam back to the Autobot Base - his parents were away holidaying, and Mikaela was at the base already - dropping him off outside the gates and then driving off. He walked over to the gate and looked to see who was manning it, and as he half-expected, it was Ironhide.

"Hey, Ironhide, how are you? And how's your family?" He meant Lennox and his family; both Ironhide and Chromia wanted to see if the peace panned out before risking bringing a sparkling into the world.

Ironhide gave a slightly goofy smile, an odd thing to see on a twenty plus foot fully armed and armoured robot.

"Annabelle's at school now, and Sarah's carrying again, I hope this peace works out, I'd love a little one of my own to exchange news about." His faceplates grew serious again.

"By the way, Sam, we've had a few new arrivals, and there's been a growing uncertainty about the personalities of some of the younger ones. Maybe I'm imagining it, but the mood seems to have become more tense in there very quickly very recently. Just thought you should be aware."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the heads-up tough guy," Sam said.

Ironhide nodded and let Sam in. Sam gave him a wave, and headed for Optimus' office, figuring Big 'Bot might need an update. He hadn't had a chance to talk to any of the Autobots in the last round of talks, and he and the Decepticons hadn't wanted to mention it in the negotiations in case it made the humans jumpy and affected the ceasefire. As Sam was the only one attacked, and he was the Decepticon Assistant Tactical Officer, it was, technically, an inter-faction quarrel that they didn't need to talk about unless it got out of hand. As the main threat had been permanently removed, and steps were being taken to find other Decepticon dissidents, it shouldn't get to a point where they needed to report it officially to the other two sides. Unofficially, however, Sam would prefer Optimus to be in the know. If Decepticon dissidents were getting ready to act, it meant tensions might be running high on _both_ sides.

After a few minutes of pressing the human level door bell, Sam figured Optimus was either recharging or out, and decided that he could do with a little relaxing in the company of some of his Autobot friends. On his way to the Rec-room, he passed Cliffjumper and gave him a cheery wave, hoping that what he'd overheard was frustration speaking, and that the the red scout would wave and say hi back, but he turned away from Sam and continued on his way. Sam sighed, and wondered if Cliffjumper honestly hadn't seen him, or if it was a deliberate snub. Either way, he'd have to speak to the scout at some point about it, with Bumblebee or Prime present, perhaps.

Sam didn't see Cliffjumper's face, so didn't catch the tell-tale dimming of the optics that indicated he'd send someone a com.


	4. Chapter 4

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Four.

A/N: Though this is a Movieverse story, many of the characters are based on their G1 designs.

He rang the human-level bell for the rec-room, and the door was opened by Mirage, who said, "Hi Sam, come in. I can't spend time talking I'm afraid, but would you come and say hi to some of our new arrivals? None of them have seen a human up close before."

"Ummm, yeah, okay, I guess," Sam said. Mirage crouched and put out his hands, and Sam got on them, and then Mirage took Sam over to where several of the newcomers were sat, and let him step down onto the table.

I'll get you a drink, Sam what do you want?" Mirage asked.

"Any sort of soda would be good," Sam said. Mirage went to the dispensers as the assembled 'bots just stared at Sam, who began to feel self-conscious, and returned with a bottle of soda and a stack of plastic cups.

"Give him some space and let him have a drink, Sam's enough like us to get nervous, and he's smaller than we are," Mirage told the assembled 'bots.

"It hasn't stopped him getting closer to some Decepticons than is comfortable, and still walking away with his life."

"So we hear," said one voice that sounded unimpressed.

"Who was that?" Mirage asked. A red 'bot with orange and yellow flame decals on his chest stepped forward.

"Me, but it's just Base rumours, let's hear him speak for himself," he said.

Sam poured himself a drink, and sat down with relief when Mirage placed a human-sized chair next to him. He briefly noticed Cliffjumper join the group, and asked "So, who's first and what do you want to know?"

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

After half an hour, Sam had been touched, stroked, held, peered at, and asked many questions.

"Are you a mech or a femme?" was both expected and easily explained, but he hadn't expected "Are you sexually dimorphic, and can you show us what's different between you and a female human?" He had needed to explain the human nudity taboo and how deeply it was conditioned into most Americans to explain why he couldn't strip off for everyone to see in the rec-room, but was happy to explain the usual way to tell a clothed man from a clothed woman in the street. However, he also pointed out there were exceptions.

"Are you humans naturally completely helpless?" one mech asked him, and Sam bared his teeth and showed his nails.

"Pretty much, other animals on Earth tend to be pretty well armed for their way of life in one way or another, but that's why we created knives and guns. Being organic, we can't graft them to ourselves like some of you do, but we can arm ourselves if the weapons are available by holding them or wearing them strapped to us, or over our shoulders. I'm sure if you ask one of the soldiers with clearance on the Base, he can show you how they carry their weapons."

"What is the purpose of the fuzz on your head and face?" one asked.

"It's thought to be a remnant of an earlier time when we might have needed it for warmth, or protection against thorns. We made clothes for the warmth and protection aspect, but hair is also thought to be a secondary sexual characteristic in humans, particularly as men frequently have hair on the lower portion of their face as well, but most women do not."

After a while Mirage called a halt to the questions, explaining that Sam was likely there to relax and unwind, just as they were, and they dispersed. Sam caught Mirage's attention, and the slender blue and white mech turned and said "Yes, Sam?"

"Can you ask Cliffjumper if I could have a quick chat with him in private?" Sam asked. "And can you get him a cube of energon on me?"

All the Autobots on Base had a certain proportion of energon available, those who worked with humans contributed towards the cost, those who didn't yet work had a proportion allotted to them until they did. (Ratchet, as the brewmaster, was not expected to contribute financially, but sometimes did.) Most of the 'bots he knew well saw Sam as one of them, and Sam paid what he could into the communal fund himself. Between these facts, this meant Sam was also apportioned a certain amount of energon, not actually for _him_ to drink, because he couldn't, but so he could get a drink for his friends. As Sam wasn't frequently at the Base, he rarely called upon it, but he felt that some energon for Cliffjumper might lubricate the discussion to come.

Mirage checked briefly, and said "Cliffjumper says yes, once he's been thrashed by Prowl at pool, by the looks of things that'll be quite quickly. I'm up to play next."

It wasn't long at all before Cliffjumper came over, and handed his oversized pool cue to Mirage. Drawing himself an energon, he put out his free hand for Sam.

"Thanks for the energon, Sam, but you said you wanted to talk in private, so I'm assuming it's not just a social call?"

"Well, maybe it can become that, but I do think we do need to talk," Sam said, picking up a cup of soda. Cliffjumper took a mouthful of his energon, surprising Sam who had expected him to wait till they were in private, and then gave Sam an expectant look. Puzzled, Sam took a mouthful of his soda, thinking 'when in Rome...' and saw Cliffjumper relax.

"I've booked the video room for the next hour, nobody's using it right now, and it's private," Cliffjumper said. He carefully took Sam to the back of the main rec-room, which had a door to another room, which was for watching videos, playing computer games, or general quiet discussion or relaxation. He walked through the door backwards, with Sam held close to his chest, his body obscuring the view of the room beyond. Cliffjumper turned the "available" sign round to "in use" and put it up so they would not be disturbed.

It was when Cliffjumper turned around that Sam realised the two of them were not alone. Three more mechs were inside the room, and it looked like they were waiting for them.

One was the orange and yellow flame patterned mech who had spoken earlier, one was white with red, both with ground-based disguise forms, if their kibble was anything to go by, and the third was a red coloured flyer, and all were regarding him with looks combining disgust and mistrust.

"It's not just me who you need to talk with, Sam, or maybe I should call you Decepticon Assistant Tactical Officer Swiftstrike," Cliffjumper said, putting Sam down on a surface nearby. The four mechs drew around, looking down at him where he stood. "You owe us an explanation."

"Look, Cliffjumper, you were _there_ , you helped look for me!" Sam said. "Starscream took me so he could fulfil the Code Of Cybertron and guard me, he couldn't exactly park his alt in the street! The rank was completely unexpected, because I advised them of some methods to obtain fuel that would cause less risk to human life, although having status also meant I was in less danger."

"I understand about status, but what I'm curious about is why you continue to help them _now_ , hasn't the debt been paid off?" the red flyer said.

"And why you are still going back and forth to their Base?" asked the white and red mech. "What do you talk about? Are they getting information from you? About humans? About our Base?" He leaned in, glaring at Sam. "Are they using you to _spy_ on us?" The tone of voice he used was menacing, and Sam felt something jump in his chest, as his mouth went dry and a lump rose in his throat. For the first time ever in the Autobot Base, Sam felt threatened.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Soundwave felt a change in Swiftstrike's mental tone and paid attention; the boy was frightened, and badly so.

"Laserbeak-eject," he said, releasing his most able flying Cassette. "Locate-Swiftstrike-in-Autobot-Base, observe-but-intervene-only-if-necessary." Laserbeak cawed in agreement, and flew off towards the Autobot Base. It was not far at the speed and direct route Laserbeak would take, Soundwave knew, the Cassette could get there in minutes, far faster than he could.

Bumblebee was out with Hound, on patrol, and he felt his Spark flicker in alarm, such an unexpected feeling that he stalled.

"Hey, are you okay Bee?" Hound asked.

"I-something I don't understand has happened, I feel in danger, and I feel as if something's about to happen, but I can't explain it," Bumblebee said.

"Then let's head back to base, Bee, and get Ratchet to check it out. It's probably a glitch, which Ratchet can fix, and if it's not, it might be best to find out what it is," Hound said, pulling a U-turn as the road was mostly deserted. "Let's head back to Base."

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

"No, I _swear_ , I'm not spying on you!" Sam squeaked in alarm. "I'm trying to help peace be achieved!"

"You're supposed to be on _our_ side, Sam, not theirs, but you're more often round their Base than around ours," Cliffjumper said. "Even Bumblebee said you seemed to be with them more often than with him and your parents. We just want a plausible explanation, Sam."

"I don't think he's got one, Cliffjumper, the boy's obviously been turned while they had him there," said the red mech with the flame patterned chest. He pulled out a gun from a holster built into his leg and pointed it at the frightened human. "I think he's turned traitor!"

"Hey, _wait_ , this is getting out of hand, we brought him here to _explain_ himself, not put him on trial!" protested Cliffjumper. "I've drank energon, and he's drank something with me to show non-violence while we talk, guys, we _can't_ hurt him!"

Sam was staring into the barrel of the gun, but then heard the white and red mech say "Perhaps _you_ drank energon with him, Cliffjumper, but _we_ didn't, and I'm with Hot Rod. I think the boy's been turned by the Decepticons, and is employed in treachery against his own people, as well as against us."

"I can stand you guys an energon too," Sam said. "If he'd told me he was bringing friends, I would have organised a round for all of you!"

"Perhaps it's best that you didn't," the white and red mech said, drawing his own weapon. "If need be, we can end your treachery here and and now with a couple of well-placed shots."

"Hold it, he's a youngster by his own people's standards, we can't just _execute_ him," Cliffjumper said, feeling the situation quickly slipping out of control.

"He's old enough to be speaking on behalf of the Decepticons, and age is no excuse for treachery," the white and red mech said.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Laserbeak, by now concealed in the ventilation shaft, contacted Soundwave with a quick update, followed by her coordinates. Soundwave's response was quick.

 **Laserbeak** ,- **mock-attack-to-distract-and-delay. Soundwave-calling-help**.

Soundwave hacked quickly into three comm frequencies, and sent an override pulse to them, and followed up with **Swiftstrike-in severe-danger. Render-assistance-i mmediately** , and followed it up with the co-ordinates given to him by Laserbeak.

Optimus Prime was jolted right out of recharge, and sat up so fast he smacked his helm hard against the plastic canopy. He triggered the release mechanism, and ran full tilt down the corridor calling for Prowl and Ironhide and Ratchet. He almost collided with Ratchet, who must have received the same com, judging by the speed he exited the Medbay. Trusting that Ironhide was following them, Optimus headed for the rec-room as fast as his legs would take him.

Bumblebee almost stalled again as he got the com message.

"Hound, Sam's in danger, he's my bondmate, we have to get back!" he told him, and without even waiting for Hound to reply, floored the accelerator.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Sam cowered back, crouching low with two guns now pointed at him. To his dismay, he saw the flyer also pull his weapon.

""We should at least _stun_ him, for safety, and I think a proper trial might be in order," he said. He looked about to level his gun at Sam too, but a screech distracted him.

"It's Laserbeak!" shouted Cliffjumper, shooting Sam an accusing look. "How did _she_ get in, and how did she know we were _here_?" Sam shook his head in denial and disbelief, wondering this himself. The weapons pointed at him turned towards the Decepticon flier, who was too fast for them, but Sam noticed something, and tried to get their attention.

"Don't shoot! She's not firing, just _flying_ at you, she's _not_ _firing_ , we're at _ceasefire_ , don't _hurt_ her!"

"Silence, traitor! We'll deal with _you_ once we've dealt with _that_!" said the white and red mech. Sam saw the peace about to fall apart in front of his eyes, and could only think of one solution.

"I _surrender_ to you four! Laserbeak, _leave_ , we _mustn't_ risk the peace!" Sam saw the mech draw a bead on the little Cassette, his finger about to pull the trigger, and desperately threw his soda at him, who flinched and didn't fire, but turned to face Sam with fury in his optics.

The rec-room door flew open with a bang, and everyone turned to see Optimus and Ratchet in the doorway.

"Everybody, _stand_ _down_! Put your weapons away and cease whatever you are doing!" Optimus ordered. As Ironhide drew up, he said "Just what is going on in here, because none of us have been made aware of any circumstances that warrant risking the ceasefire we have worked so hard to obtain." As Prowl also moved into the room, Optimus asked "Why is it I have to learn about a threat to our human friend _in_ _our_ _own_ _Base_ from _Soundwave_?" He looked around the room. "Hot Rod, Powerglide, Red Alert, I gave you an _order_. Put your weapons away _now_!"

All the mechs in the room holstered their weapons, and Laserbeak disappeared into the ventilation duct. Sam sagged to the floor in relief, just as Bumblebee pushed his way past, and moved over to the human. He glared at them all, and said "Who's been threatening my bondmate?" He picked Sam up tenderly, for the boy was now starting to shake and cry, and held him to his chest, humming in an attempt to comfort him.

"I think we should all adjourn to my office, because I think there is a story behind this whole incident that I need to hear. That includes you, Laserbeak, energon will be provided." Optimus raised his arm, hand out, and Laserbeak flew out of the ventilation shaft, not landing on Optimus' outstretched hand, but on his lower arm, perching on the Autobot leader's wrist.

"I did go to your office, Sir, but you didn't answer the buzzer," Sam spoke up.

"I was recharging, unfortunately, things always seem to happen at the worst time," Optimus said, pulling his arm back, bent at the elbow to better balance the little Cassetticon, and raising her to optic level.

"Please record everything for Soundwave," he said, knowing Laserbeak would do so anyway, but wanting to make it official and allowable for the sake of the treaty. "I believe it will be in both our sides' interest to know what happened, but I don't think we need bother the humans with this. If he permits it, I would be interested to see any run-up to this." He lowered his arm a little, keeping it bent to support Laserbeak comfortably, and swept his gaze over the four who had been in the room with Sam. "I would also be interested in hearing your side of things, and how this situation came to be. We will now head to my office."

They moved out, Optimus with Laserbeak and Ratchet first, followed by Bumblebee, who was holding Sam. He was followed by the four other mechs, while Ironhide and Prowl brought up the rear, and ignoring the curious stares of the suddenly-silent rec-room, they headed for Optimus' office.


	5. Chapter 5

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Five.

A/N: I am basing the looks and personalities of many of the 'bots on their G1 apoeareances and personalities.

When they got into his office, Optimus put an armchair on the desk for Sam, and drew Laserbeak a shallow cube of energon before tilting his arm down so Laserbeak could hop down onto the table. He began filling cubes for everyone except Cliffjumper, who still had the one Sam had given him, still mostly full. For Sam he was gently put down on the tabled and Optimus indicated he should choose from a fridge he kept stocked with cooled drinks for his human guests. Sam pulled out a beer; although he felt like something stronger might have been appropriate, the beer was the strongest alcohol available outside of the Medbay. He popped the cap off it with the bottle opener that was on top of the fridge, and took a swig.

Sam walked over from the fridge, but as he headed for the chair, Laserbeak, who had not drank any of the energon yet, hopped over to Sam, stroked her head down his arm, and hooked a wing about him to draw him closer to her own body. Then she looked up with a glare at the observers. The message was quite clear, to everyone present, that Laserbeak was showing she would protect Sam from _any_ of them. This was surprising by itself, but when Sam reached up an arm to caress the little Cassetticon and said "Thank you, but I think I'm safe now," the four senior 'bots all looked startled.

"He's definitely more than just work colleagues with _that_ one!" the white and red mech said. "They look really cozy, I wonder _why_ that is?" Optimus shot him a look which made him subside.

"I must express a good deal of curiosity about that myself, Red Alert, but will _not_ be doing so with veiled accusations and unsubstantiated speculation," Optimus replied. "I am sure that Sam can give us the missing knowledge we need, and if we don't get answers from Sam, I _will_ be contacting Soundwave to ask for his explanation."

Laserbeak released Sam from under her wing and hopped back, dipping her head to drink her energon, and Optimus said "Drink up, all of you, I want some sort of encouragement that this will be settled peacefully, and without anyone being attacked, no matter what we may discover today." All the 'bots in the room took a drink of energon from their cubes, some more reluctantly than others. Optimus nodded with satisfaction. He levelled his gaze on Sam, as the human sat in the provided armchair, brought his beer bottle to his lips and tipped his head back to take another mouthful, and said "I suspect you have the answers to most of the questions I will be asking, but the first question I have is that which Red Alert noticed. I know that you've been assisting the Decepticons with their peace negotiations, with my knowledge and permission, not that I am suggesting you need my permission to run your own life, but it _does_ seem that Laserbeak has more concern for you than would be expected from a working relationship. Do you know why that is?" he asked.

"I've got some idea, but it's rather a long story," Sam said. Optimus nodded and swept his gaze over the assembled 'bots, "We all have energon, and do not need to sit to be comfortable. Would the long story be what you originally went to see me about, and is any part of it something you could only say to me?"

"I'd be more comfortable just telling you, but seeing as at least three of the mechs here seem to think I'm passing Autobot and human secrets to the Decepticons, it would probably be a good idea that I tell everyone here," Sam remarked. "Nothing I would have to say is exactly top secret, although some of it's pretty bizarre, even by my standards, and I've had a lot of bizarre things happen to me in the last few years." He paused, to look at all of the mechs, but most pointedly at the four non-officers in the room. "First, I must ask if everyone here is familiar with what happened to me regarding the Code Of Cybertron, and the events that surrounded it, including how I earned a Decepticon rank? Which, by the way, was as big a surprise to me at the time as it was to you. Considering where I was, and the lack of a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities, refusing it would have been unwise, and it gave me an advantage to help work towards the ceasefires that are in place today."

"I will databurst the pertinent information to those who were not here, and to Cliffjumper, who _was_ here, but may need a reminder," Optimus said, and Cliffjumper had the good grace to look embarrassed.

"That won't be necessary, Sir," he said. Optimus' optics dimmed, and then brightened, followed by the optics of the three newcomers. There was a few second's silence as they reviewed what Optimus had sent.

"Okay, we have the necessary background information," Red Alert said. "If the human is going to explain things, I think we're ready." The other two nodded in agreement.

"Okay, well it started, I think it was two days ago? I was waiting for negotiations to get back under way, while wording was argued over, and I was unkinking the wires of Soundwave's Cassettes, as I am also a nurse while there, and as such, that was one of the tasks I carried out when not doing diplomatic or tactical tasks." Sam assumed, when there was no interruptions, that the background information had included this aspect of his duties, so he continued.

"I had just finished, and was heading back to the Medbay with Soundwave and the Cassettes, when we came under attack."

"From who, Sam?" Optimus asked, sounding concerned.

"Dissident Decepticons, who didn't want the peace.

One I had previous history with, Swindle, and another who had arrived later whom I didn't know, whom they called Vortex. Vortex fired at Soundwave, but Swindle was after me. I tried to defend myself, with my laser scalpel, but Swindle threw some sort of grenade at me. I kicked it back towards him, and turned my back, which is when it went off. I told everybody to get down, and it was instinctive of me to try and protect the ones in front of me, which were Ravage, Rumble, and Frenzy, I threw myself down over them while trying to duck myself. I remember the pain as all the bits of the grenade struck, I think Dr Syn said Swindle used something called a hidescourer?"

"What were you doing trying to protect _anyone_ with your own body, having a crisis of identity?" Ratchet said sharply. "You're _Sam_ , not _Ironhide_ , Ironhide is over _there_!" he said, pointing at the mech in question. "That was a foolish thing to do, Sam, you could have _died_!"

"Well, Soundwave said he didn't think Swindle intended me to die right away, but that's not the point, is it? I _didn't_ think, I just reacted. Believe me, if I'd had time to think I probably _would_ have taken cover, but everything happened too fast! All I remember mostly after that is pain, and yes, Laserbeak picked me up. I must have lost consciousness after that, because I next woke up in what I thought was a small dim room with my back dressed, wrapped in a sheet, and with drips going in my arms."

"We should be thankful that Doctor Syn learned about humans with you earlier, I suppose," Ratchet said. "I assume most of the hidescourer missed you?"

"Most of it _hit_ me, actually, from what Dr Syn and Soundwave told me, because it was at ground level, but Dr Syn said it might have been worse if I hadn't kicked it away, he thinks the distance mitigated some of the impact, but it still bloody hurt," Sam said.

"Then your back must have looked like what humans call 'steak tartare' but with more blood," Ratchet said. "You should have come to me when you couldn't find Optimus, I've got the rank to know whether to wake Optimus from recharge, or at least take your report and pass it on, plus I wouldn't have minded taking a look at your back _myself_. You should continue, but I want to see your back after this, you seem to be walking well considering. But please continue your account."

"The doctor said I must have good healing genes," Sam remarked, and then continued. "Well, it turned out that Soundwave thought I needed protecting from any other dissidents and had put me in his chest. Apparently that's what Laserbeak did, and my blood mixed with the energon from both Soundwave and three of his Cassettes. It seems that this, along with my attempt to protect them from the blast,-"

"Means he's adopted you into his family," Ratchet interrupted, finishing off. Sam nodded, surprised. "I've heard of the custom, it's less common these days than it used to be, but it is still practiced. It does explain Laserbeak's reaction to you, she sees you as her brother. You now have the Decepticon second in command and his Cassettes ready and willing to aid you if needed, which could explain why Laserbeak came here."

"He's got Decepticons as _family_?" asked the mech with the flame patterning. "Doesn't that mean his loyalty could be called into question?

"If you use that reasoning, Hot Rod, my _own_ loyalty would be called into question. Megatron himself was my brother," Optimus reminded Hot Rod. "Having Decepticon family doesn't mean Sam shares their goals, which may have changed with Megatron gone, who, by the way, Sam himself destroyed. But once again, we have interrupted Sam's report."

"There's not much more to report," Sam said. "I had some more enforced rest - inside Soundwave's chest for safety - and I helped with the negotiations. The doctor changed my dressings a couple of times, I stayed another night, and then I got dropped off here. I tried to contact you, Optimus, but got no response, so went to the Rec-room. I was asked by Mirage to be a sort of human Show and Tell for some of the new arrivals, and I had become aware that Cliffjumper was doubting my loyalty, so I asked him to be given an energon from my stash, and we went into the video room, but I didn't know he'd invited his friends. It was a bit disconcerting to suddenly be the centre of attention of four mechs, three whom I didn't know, who all seemed to have decided I was a potential traitor. And then it went from asking questions to straight out accusations of treachery, through to drawing weapons and threats!"

"How and why did Laserbeak get involved? How did she _know_ Sam was being threatened?" the red flier asked.

"I would guess that Soundwave sent her, Powerglide," Optimus said.

"And how would _he_ know?" Red Alert asked.

"Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he sent Laserbeak to kept watch and listen from a distance, concerned about possible attacks from Autobots, after all Sam was attacked by Decepticons, so maybe he feared similar attacks from dissidents in our ranks? Or maybe Soundwave found out some other way? Soundwave has a reputation for knowing things he shouldn't, and we've often found out too late, to our cost. However, I doubt Sam had any part in it, humans don't have built in communications, so how _could_ have Sam contacted either Laserbeak or Soundwave?"

"How do we know he's telling the truth about the attack?" asked Red Alert. Sam had had enough.

"I'm telling the truth, damn it! If you doubt me, look at this!" he cried. He stood, undid his belt, moved away from the chair, and pulled his T-shirt off, turning his back to the mechs stood in front of Optimus' desk. There was a moment of silence, and then Cliffjumper exclaimed "Sweet Primus!" He sounded shocked. Then another voice spoke.

"I'm no medic, but I imagine that would be pretty difficult to fake."

"Let's put to rest any ideas of that being a fake," Ratchet said. "I don't want rumour and half truths circulating, so let's check the veracity of the injuries right now. I saw Sam four days ago, and there was no sign of any damage to him then."

There was a familiar hum, as Ratchet activated his scanning beam, and Sam felt a light tingling as the beam played over his back, and then Ratchet spoke.

"My reading suggest that Sam has injuries consistent with damage a human would likely sustain from a small hidescourer grenade. He appears to be healing exceptionally well, and I can check with the Decepticon medic for earlier scans if need be. You can all see the scabs and discolouration caused by many small pieces of metal becoming embedded in the soft organic tissues of Sam's back, and further damage caused by their removal, plus my scanners tell me that there are several almost microscopic particles still embedded in his flesh that will work themselves out over time. In short, Sam's injuries are consistent with what he told us happened."

"Um, Sam? I owe you an apology," Cliffjumper said. "I should have told you I was bringing friends, and I should have told them to just ask questions. However, I didn't expect things to escalate the way they did, and I _certainly_ didn't expect weapons to be pulled!"

"I guess I owe you an apology too," Powerglide said. "I guess we're all so used to Decepticon treachery that we're still naturally suspicious. If Optimus Prime says you're trustworthy, I'll take his word for it." He paused, to look at Optimus.

"I would trust Sam as much as I would trust any of _you_ , in fact I would trust Sam _more_ than some of you, as I have known him longer. He saved my life on the battlefield _twice_ , and I would trust him with my life again, if need be," Optimus said.

Powerglide looked impressed. "Is there any way I can make it up to you?" he asked the human. "Do you want to come up sometime with me when I go flying? I'm the safest and coolest thing on two wings up there. What do humans do for fun?" Before Sam could respond, Hot Rod spoke up too.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, like Powerglide said, if Optimus trusts you, I trust you. Can we start out anew, put this behind us?" He bent down and offered Sam his hand. "Hi, I'm Hot Rod, and I'm very pleased to meet you." Sam reached up and allowed Hot Rod to take his hand gently and shake it.

"I apologise for overreacting and accusing you with no evidence, and for pulling a weapon on you unprovoked," Red Alert said, "But I'm _not_ apologising for being suspicious. I'm a security officer, and a little paranoia in my job is healthy, it keeps us alive when things are not what they seem to be. You're not just a Decepticon officer, you're now a member of a Decepticon family, and that ticks my suspicion boxes, _twice_. So I will not threaten you, and I will not snub you, but I will always have that suspicion. There's no malice and no hatred, I'll just carry a bit of healthy scepticism with me, and keep an optic on what you are doing. This is just so you know where you and I stand."

"Fair enough," said Sam, and he didn't mind, because he could see where Red Alert was coming from.

"Can we go back to the rec-room, Sir, and can Sam join us?" Hot Rod asked.

"Let me take another scan first, and Sam, I want to monitor your healing for the next three days," Ratchet said. "Those are serious injuries you're recovering from, and I'd rather be too cautious than not cautious enough."

"Okay, Ratchet," Sam said, allowing Ratchet to scan him once again, before putting on his T shirt. He went over and gave Laserbeak another stroke. "I guess you'll be going back to Soundwave after this. I hope this treaty or truce is brokered soon, I'd love to get you an energon in the rec-room, and the others, too." Laserbeak cawed and gave Sam another wing-hug, before taking off and flying out of Optimus' office door. Optimus sent a Basewide com telling everyone to let her go as long as she was headed out, which judging by some of the shouts, she was. Optimus received a com from Hound on the gate confirming the little Cassetticon had flown out, and was heading away from the Base.

Bumblebee picked up Sam, and he, Cliffjumper, Hot Rod and Powerglide headed off to the rec-room for energon (and soda, for Sam), and Ironhide and Prowl went off, Ironhide to relieve Hound from the gate, and Prowl headed back to the Rec-room, both to see if anyone else wanted to play pool against him, and surreptitiously keep an optic on Sam and his new friends. Only Ratchet and Red Alert remained, and Optimus first turned to Red Alert.

"I know you're probably angry at me for my paranoia, but it's a habit I am loathe to break," Red Alert said.

"I am not angry at you for your paranoia, as you said, it is a part of your job, and probably why you are still alive to be speaking to me," replied Optimus. "However, I _am_ disappointed in your handling of the situation. You should have come to me with your concerns about Sam, and I could have given you more information about the situation, and taken your concerns on board. In future, if it's not a situation needing an immediate response, and you've got concerns, contact me, Ironhide or Prowl."

"Yes sir, I will. Permission to leave, Sir?" Red Alert asked. Optimus nodded his permission, and Red Alert left. After the door shut behind him, Optimus turned to Ratchet.

"Something is on your processors, isn't it? What is it, Ratchet?"

"For an injury sustained two days ago, Sam has healed very well indeed," he said.

"Maybe their medic is correct, and Sam does have good genes," Optimus said.

"Not _that_ bloody good!" Ratchet retorted. "Sam's healing not only far faster than he usually does, he's healing far faster than any human recorded! I want to monitor him, but I can already see that the cuts, at least, look as if they've been healing for almost a _week_ , not two days! In a few days, they'll be scars, not scabs, if he carries on at this rate. My scan also showed me that the Spark energy Sam gained from the AllSpark appears to be condensing, it's closer to being a Spark than it was just a few days ago. I need to find out what may have caused this, and I also need to make sure this swift healing isn't a curse in disguise."

"What do you mean, Ratchet?" Optimus said.

"Human cells have a set number of times they can divide, and some divide more frequently than others. Skin cells, for example, will divide more frequently than kidney or heart cells, as the skin is exposed to more wear and tear. However, even they have a limit as the ends of the chromosomes - the telomeres - get shorter with every division. Once the telomeres are gone, the cell can no longer divide. It is the cause of senescence in organic life, otherwise known as ageing."

Ratchet spoke again. "It may not just be advanced _healing_ that Sam is going through. The long term effects of Spark energy on organic flesh is not known. My greatest fear is that this accelerated healing could actually be the first sign of accelerated _ageing_. Sam could age before his time, and die of age-related diseases while he is still chronologically young."


	6. Chapter 6

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Six.

A/N: Apologies for the lateness of posting this, it and some more chapters have been avaiłsble for a while, but life happens .

Ratchet's observations of Sam's back were mostly positive. As he had suspected, before a week had passed since the attack, his injuries were nothing more than scars and fading bruises. He had also managed to get a sample of the new skin, and so far, there was no sign of telomere degradation, but it was early days yet, so it would be an ongoing check, probably for the next twenty to thirty years.

Hot Rod, Powerglide, and Cliffjumper had certainly made good on their apologies to Sam; the three of them had spent time with Sam at the Base in the Rec-room and outdoors, and both Cliffjumper and Hot Rod had promised to transport Sam wherever he needed or wanted to if 'Bee was unavailable. Sam had not needed to take either of them up on their offer in the last week, but it gave both Sam and 'Bee peace of mind that if Bee was needed for, say, scouting work, Sam could travel in Hot Rod for the time, and would not be unguarded from rogue dissident 'lone wolf' Autobots or Decepticons. He had also taken up Powerglide's offer to go up in his alt form. The three had also taken up Sam's offer to demonstrate how he could unkink wires, and none of them had any complaints.

It was just over a week later, in the Rec-room one afternoon, that Sam received a text on his cell from Soundwave; 'Swiftstrike required for work on treaty,' followed shortly by one from Barricade; 'I'm en route to pick you up, meet outside the Autobot Base gates in 10 minutes.'

"Okay, I gotta go," he said to Hot Rod and Cliffjumper, just as Powerglide must have alerted the Base that Barricade was approaching.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Hot Rod asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sam said. "He likes his wires unkinked as well, plus Soundwave has texted that he wants to see me, and seeing that Soundwave killed the last Decepticon who went to attack me, it's in Barricade's best interests to not harm me."

"Okay, as long as you're sure," Hot Rod said. Sam assured both Hot Rod and Cliffjumper that he'd be well, and then headed out to go to Barricade.

"Soundwave has asked me to bring you to him, but he suggested there was no urgency. I would appreciate it if you could unkink my wires, I know somewhere we will not be disturbed," Barricade said.

"Has Soundwave checked everyone else out to be sure there's no one else in your ranks looking to kill me or derail the peace?" Sam asked, as Barricade headed for a location outside Tranquility.

"Yes, he has, there are no more who are definitely out to kill you, but there are a few Soundwave intends to watch, and preferably keep you away from. I am one of those he trusts, or he would not have sent me to bring you," Barricade said. "Keeping you away from some of those is why we're doing the unkinking outside of the Base. The Lookout is too risky at the moment, humans may come across us at this time, but out here, we can see anyone coming from a distance, and I will set a proximity alarm just in case."

"Okay," Sam said.

Sam didn't need to take too long unkinking Barricade's wires as he'd been doing so regularly every couple of weeks for well over a year now, so it was mostly maintenance and a quick check around the joints and nodes for any new or developing kinks, straightening them before they became troublesome or caused major issues. When he'd first began unkinking, it had taken a good two to three hours each time, undoing what could have been years of neglect, but after a few sessions, he could just check them by feel and sometimes sight, and make any necessary adjustments or clean off any excess grease in about half an hour to an hour at a time. As his injuries were now healed, he didn't experience any discomfort himself.

When he'd finished, Barricade went back into car form and took Sam to the Decepticon Base, transforming after Sam had gotten out, and carefully picking him up to take him to the Medbay. Soundwave was there with all of the Cassettes, all waiting for him on one of Dr Syn's worktables. Barricade put Sam on the other end of the same worktable as carefully as he'd picked the human up.

"Swiftstrike-will-unkink," Soundwave said, indicating the Cassettes and himself in one gesture. "Then-work-on-treaty-wording-and-negotiations."

"I guess that means I'll be staying a few days then?" Sam said, guessing the unkinking would happen first, and the negotiation work would take up the following days.

"I want to check your injuries first, to make sure they are healed, and then I want to take some scans of you," Dr Syn said. "It seems to me that if you are at risk of being attacked, some light armour that can be worn under clothing might be an idea. For that matter, heavier armour to be worn over clothing is another option to consider. I have an idea for the light armouring being a fine mesh that will stretch to fit you closely, but will deflect anything but very tiny particles or a large projectile or blade. We might be able to get some sort of embedded tech in a light over or under shirt that will dissipate or absorb most of the energy of a laser shot, though that would only be useful for a single shot, but that breathing room might be all you need to run or call for help."

'Until then, I can get a police issue vest," Barricade suggested.

"I seem to remember light armouring being suggested by Ironhide, "Sam said, "but between everything else, it seems to have been forgotten, or at least delayed."

He took off his T-shirt and lowered his pants so the medic could check, which he did. "This is healing well, Sam, you should be okay to unkink the wires, just take it slow and easy. Six in one day is a lot, even if five of them are small."

"Seven," Sam corrected. "I unkinked Barricade's before getting here."

"I see," said Dr Syn, shooting Barricade a 'look'. "You should have come here and been checked first."

"Ratchet cleared me a few days ago and I warmed up on a couple of the Autobots," Sam explained. "I took it slow and didn't have any problems."

"Well, I do trust Ratchet's professional opinion no matter what side he's on," Dr Syn remarked. "Just continue to take it easy, right?

He scanned Sam a couple of times, and then said "Barricade, I need you to obtain a few items for me, get Sam the vest and find ways to obtain these items." Dr Syn must have commed Barricade the list, for Barricade said "I'll get started on that now," and left the room. Sam turned to look at Soundwave, and then across the worktable at the Cassetticons.

"Thanks for the help last week Soundwave, Laserbeak, it's been sorted now. All but one of those who threatened me are now friends with me, and the one who's not, well, he's just suspicious, and doesn't hate me either."

"Acknowledged," Soundwave said, and the Cassetticons all moved over to Sam. Laserbeak stroked her head across his chest and arm, and Ravage rubbed along behind him, leaned against him with a loud purr, almost unbalancing him. Ratbat put his head under Sam's hand, and Sam gave it a scratch, as Frenzy and Rumble both came over to him. Sam felt some of his cares and worries leave, as he patted and stroked the Cassettes, all of whom welcomed him in their own way. A minute or two later, Rumble shoved Frenzy aside to get a bit closer to Sam and give him a gentle hug, which outraged Frenzy, who carefully prised his brother's hands off Sam, and then hit Rumble so hard that the latter fell over. Rumble got up, pulled Frenzy away, and Sam backed up as the two flew at each other, chattering madly and rolling over and over in a tangle of limbs. This went on for several seconds, and Sam didn't know whether the two had just decided the fight was over or if Soundwave had commed them, but they stopped, picked themselves up, and moved back over to opposite sides of Sam.

The Cassettes backed off from Sam a few moments later, after he hugged, patted, and otherwise scratched and stroked all of them, and Sam said "Okay, I think it might be an idea if I unkink Ravage, Ratbat and Laserbeak first, and then I'll do Soundwave, Frenzy, and Rumble tomorrow." He looked up at Soundwave. "If that's okay with you?" Soundwave gave a nod, and recalled Rumble and Frenzy before turning to leave the Medbay, presumably to do something else.

Sam turned to see Ratbat sprawled face-down in front of him, something that had startled Sam when it first happened, but was merely Ratbat being ready for unkinking. Ravage and Laserbeak sat back politely to wait their turn.

"Okay," Sam said, dropping to his knees and reaching out his hands to begin working on the joints of Ratbat's closest wing, "let's get started, shall we?"

It was three hours later when Sam straightened up after finishing his unkinking of Ravage, who was lying on the worktable purring. He wiped his face with the towel Dr Syn had helpfully provided an hour into the unkinking. Although the Cassettes were small, Ravage, with his quadrupedal stance, and Laserbeak and Ratbat, with their sensitive wings, took longer to unkink than any of the humanoid 'Bots and 'Cons because of their different configuration and parts. Ravage had more linkages for his forelimbs than most bipedal Cybertronians Sam had worked on, plus extra wires and connections in his back and hips, both for his powerful hind limbs and tail, and the two rear-mounted missile launchers. Working so close to them, deployed of not, Sam did not want to make any mistakes. For the two flying Cassettes, their wings were important, and both had different joints and wiring to each other for Sam to deal with.

Barricade came in at that moment with an assortment of lumpy objects in a blanket in one hand, and a bucket of chicken pieces in the others. "I'm back with some stuff," he said. He handed the latter to Sam, before going over to show the medic what he had. Sam was more interested in the chicken bucket, realising he was suddenly hungry. He moved away from the other three Cassettes, not wanting to get chicken grease on them, and began eating some of the chicken from the bucket, dropping the bones from the bits he'd eaten back into the bucket to avoid getting too much grease on the work surface.

"This is for you," Barricade said, putting down a Police issue vest, and a box of napkins. Sam opened the napkins to wipe his greasy fingers on before picking up the bulky vest and examining it. It was a padded, Velcro-fastened covering for the torso which, upon closer examination, contained a couple of metal plates in pockets at the front and the back.

"Well, I won't be able to unkink anyone wearing this, but hopefully I'll be in a safe place for unkinking anyway, Sam observed, not wanting to seem ungrateful.

"It's a temporary measure while I work on something more effective, more flexible, and more discreet," Dr Syn said. "You shouldn't need to use it here at all, not with all the checks Soundwave has instigated and measures he's suggested."

"Well, I guess that's a relief," Sam said, putting the vest aside. 'I never realised these were so bulky."

I've got a couple of ideas for armour for you Sam, luckily I'm a craftsmech and can adapt human clothing for some, and build something to help me make the rest, as it's going to be fiddly work otherwise."

'Thanks, I appreciate it," Sam said.

Why don't you inflate your air bed and take a breather? Dr Syn asked. "You can come back a bit later if you feel like it, but it's actually fairly late, and you've been working hard."

"I think I'll do that, thanks," Sam said. Dr Syn put his hands out and took Sam to his corner of the Medbay. Sam plugged in the air bed, retrieved a bottle of water from a small supply kept there for him, and a packet of crisps, and when the air bed was inflated, changed out of his clothes and lay on top of the bed in his underthings, looking through his social media accounts and his reading app on his cell.

He got into the air bed, and curled up, but despite being tired, he couldn't sleep. He kept hearing strange noises from some of the Medbay equipment, and the space seemed very large, and faintly lit, enough to bother him but not enough to make any of the shadows clearer. It was irritating, he'd not had any issues sleeping here before, and he couldn't understand why he was having issues now. He determined to get some sort of herbal sleep aid or melatonin to bring here the next time, he occasionally suffered sleepless nights at the Autobot Base so kept some there too, but this wasn't the same. He felt unaccountably on edge, and sat up, checked the vest Barricade had got for him, checked his phone again, and sighed.

He was tired, but couldn't sleep. His eyes were too tired to read, but his hearing and brain were wide awake. He sighed, flopping back in the air bed, wondering how long he'd have to toss and turn before getting to sleep, or if he'd get any sleep at all. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow, and needed sleep to be at his best.

He heard footsteps approaching, not so unusual in the Medbay, as someone was always coming in or leaving the Medbay for a minor repair, with a question, or to get some energon, but these steps didn't go past as he expected, but came closer and closer.

As a shadow appeared in the doorway, Sam sat up, at first panicking, wondering if someone else was sneaking in to attack him, but then the silhouette spoke.

"Swiftstrike-Soundwave-here." Sam relaxed, and watched as Soundwave called up the lights, and crouched by the inflatable bed. "Swiftstrike-cannot-recharge," he said, and it was a statement, not a question. Of course, Sam reflected, Soundwave could probably pluck this fact from his mind, and Sam wondered how Soundwave's mind reading worked. How much control did he have over it? Could he shut it off, or shut certain voices out? Was it something he had to choose to use or was it always on and always receiving all the thoughts of anyone within a certain area? Sam shuddered a little at the thought, such a situation would make such an ability more of a curse than a blessing.

"Yes, I can't sleep, but please don't knock me out like you did before, I'd like to keep that as a last resort if possible," Sam said. Soundwave gave Sam a little nod. He held his hands down towards Sam, and the front of his chest compartment hinged open.

"Swiftstrike-return?" Soundwave said, and Sam could hear the questioning tone in his voice, and shrugged.

"I guess it's worth a try," he said, climbing into the proffered hands. "Can I have my air bed and pillows in again please?" he asked.

"Affirmative," Soundwave replied. He lifted Sam carefully into his chest, and Sam stood aside as Soundwave quickly put in the air bed and pillows as requested. As the chest compartment closed again, Sam got back into the air bed, wondering at the warmth and muted quiet in the compartment. He yawned, he was very tired, and he felt less on edge than he had. He rolled over, not actually hopeful about this helping, but willing to try it. He lay down and shut his eyes, blanking his mind and controlling his breathing.

Ten minutes later, Sam slipped into a deep and restful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Seven.

A/N: This is referencing the G1 Hound rather than the Movie Hound for what are probably obvious reasons.

Three days later.

Sam was sitting with Soundwave, as Soundwave described in detail the problems with finding a planet for humans to colonise, Sam nodding his head every so often. Usually when working Soundwave played music for Sam, but while Soundwave was dictating, and Sam was translating it into an easier-to-understand form and writing it down, background music was an unnecessary distraction.

The problem was finding an explanation that took into account all the problems, but would be understood by the humans involved. Sam figured that if he could understand it, so should most of the people who needed to know, but it wasn't quite as simple as that. It had to be couched in terms that neither insulted nor belittled those being addressed. They had to talk about it in terms that the humans involved would understand without actually talking down to them, and the difference between the two was a very fine line.

Neither could they deliberately make it slightly over their heads hoping they'd ask for clarification; the chances were that they would not ask, and thus the Cybertronians would not have their concerns adequately expressed. Sam was beginning to wonder if they should explain that they had dumbed it down to be certain the points they were making would be understood by all, but wasn't sure if that might be seen as an insult to the intelligence of the diplomats and generals involved.

The two were alone; Dr Syn, along with Frenzy, whose help he had requested, has been working in seclusion since Sam had finished unkinking Frenzy. The most Sam saw of the medic was when he popped in to make sure Sam had eaten, or needed to retrieve something from his stores. At first Sam worried he'd offended the medic somehow, but Soundwave assured the human that Dr Syn was just busy with what he was working on.

Sam, who was writing down potential wording, threw down his pen in frustration.

"Maybe we should ask them to send a couple of NASA's finest minds to the negotiations, explain it to them, and let _them_ explain the issues?" Sam said in frustration. "Perhaps _they_ can explain without humans thinking you and the Autobots are looking down on them. Or maybe they'll understand if we can somehow make this into a film or show rather than lines and lines of writing?"

"Hound-has-hologram-skill. Humans-require-explanation-from-both-factions. Would-this-work?" Soundwave asked.

"Yes, yes, if he could accompany our words with images, it should, would, work," Sam explained, looking up hopefully. "Us humans are visual creatures, we even have a saying around it, 'a picture speaks a thousand words.' If you could use the holograms to illustrate what the issues are, perhaps with hypothetical scenarios, it will probably get the message through. And maybe we should ask for one of those fine minds from NASA just in case, I'm pretty sure if they _do_ need it dumbing down, it'll go down better coming from a fellow human on their side who's an expert in his field than from a Cybertronian."

"Continue-working-on-presentation-speech, Starscream-can-request-NASA-scientist," Soundwave said, his optics dimming as he sent a com to whom Sam presumed was Starscream.

"Want me to call 'Bee and ask him to ask Hound?" Sam asked.

"Negative,-already-done," Soundwave replied.

Sam bent his head back to his task, as Soundwave began speaking again, wondering where Soundwave had obtained Hound's com code. Then he recalled Optimus' remark about Soundwave knowing things he shouldn't, and decided to file it under that.

As for Soundwave, it seemed he wasn't telling.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Hound was just lining up a shot on the pool table when he pulled his shot and stood up, holding his hand up in what was either a universal sign for 'wait' or 'hold', or that Hound had learned from the humans he was so fascinated with. He paused as his optics dimmed, and then sighed.

"It seems my presence is required at the Decepticon Base tomorrow morning, 10AM local time, to work on a presentation to the humans about why we can't just take them to the nearest planets to colonise. My safety is, I am told, assured, as are the advantages for both of our factions of my participation." He bent, took his shot, and straightened again. "I'd just like to know how Soundwave got my com code, because I didn't give him it."

"What about your friend Sam? Being that he's Soundwave's family now?" Red Alert asked. Hound snorted.

"I didn't give it to Sam either, humans don't have built in comms, Sam wouldn't know a com code if it hit him in the face," Hound said.

"Prime _did_ say Soundwave seems to know things he shouldn't, I guess we'll have to make your com code one of them," Red Alert said.

Hound nodded, and rounded the table to take his next shot.

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

A few hours later, interspersed with breaks for eating and going to the bathroom, and to help Sam's concentration, Sam figured most of the presentation speech was done. It would require fine tuning, and they'd have to try and anticipate the expected questions that would arise, but that could wait for another day.

Sam yawned and stretched, but stopped as Dr Syn walked in with a jovial look on his faceplates and a closed fist. At first Sam was a little nervous about the clenched fist, but as Dr Syn lowered it towards Sam, he noticed the fingers were curled around something lying in the medic's palm. Dr Syn uncurled his fingers to reveal a small pile of what appeared to be fabric.

"Here, finally it's finished, Dr Syn said. '"Have a look, Swiftstrike, what do you think?" Sam lifted the top item off the small pile in Dr Syn's hand, which appeared to be nothing more than a light, form-fitting T-shirt.

"That's just an underlayer, it's made for sports players who have to wear armour, like for football, karate, or taekwando," Dr Syn said. "To avoid sweat making things uncomfortable, or the parts of the armour from pinching or rubbing. Put it on and see how it fits." Sam spotted a well-known manufacturer's emblem on it, and put the T-shirt down, skinning off his hoody and tee before picking up the underlayer and putting it on. He eyed what he could see of it critically, it certainly clung close; Mikaela or even 'Bee might appreciate seeing him in it. He then reached for the second item on the pile, which shone a little in the overhead lights.

It looked like a very fine chain mail vest, but the size looked like it was made for a child, and it didn't weigh as much as he thought it would. He looked back at Dr Syn and said "I'm sure it will work, but it doesn't appear to be my size."

"It's designed to fit around you, a bit like the undershirt, without being too bulky and obvious. It's designed to expand, to stretch. Try it on, Swiftstrike, you'll see what I mean," Dr Syn replied. Sam was at first doubtful, but as he drew it on over his arms, it indeed seemed to stretch. A closer look showed it was a cleverly designed system where the links nestled up to each other when it was not being worn, but slid around each other and rotated to allow expansion when stretched. Sam pulled it on over his head, and found it did fit, again closely, moulding itself to the contours of his body, and it was more comfortable than he thought it would be. He reached over to a second, identical item, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"That's just a spare, I suggest you keep one here and take the other with you. If for some reason you forget it, or it gets damaged, you have a spare one here." Sam nodded in agreement, put the spare chain vest aside, and then picked up the last garment in the pile, which looked like an unassuming black turtleneck, until he held it up.

It was slightly heavier than he expected, but the first thing he noticed was the discreet but present Decepticon insignia on the left front over his chest. He noticed identical insignias on the tops of the sleeves, and a look at the back revealed a larger and less discreet insignia on the back. Above it on the back was printed "Assistant Tactial Officer Swiftstrike" in English, and below it was what Sam assumed was the same text in Cybertronian.

"This was Frenzy's idea, for during the negotiations, so people know what you are doing with us. The insignias hide power units to power the sensor web that would detect and divert laser blasts to the power absorption nodes concealed within the fabric. The neck has an insert made of the same material as your vest, to add some protection to your neck. I'm going to produce an identical one with other, human, designs on it to wear when we're not in negotiations, but you may need its protection here or outside. You can wash it without any issues in a washing machine, but we don't know how it would react to dry cleaning, so don't."

"Yeah, that's good to know, I'd get some strange looks if I wore _this_ in the Autobot Base, Red Alert would probably throw a fit, and I wouldn't want to be wearing it upon my first introduction to any new arrivals, meeting some new arrivals earlier was bad enough without a Decepticon insignia in sight!" Sam remarked.

"The other one should be ready by the time you need to go back, but this one might be a useful thing to wear if you happen to see any of _our_ new arrivals," Dr Syn said. He nodded. "Go ahead, try it on."

Sam felt the four insignia, and sure enough they concealed the fact that there was something under them. He pulled the turtleneck on over his head, over the chain mail vest, and had to admit the whole ensemble only felt marginally thicker than his usual clothes. Again, the turtleneck fit him well, and he decided that when he got the non-Decepticon version, he'd wear it if only to give Mikaela and Bumblebee something to look at. He stood up as Dr Syn produced a mirror, and turned to look at himself in it. He decided a smart black pair of trousers, or maybe a smart-casual pair of black Jeans, would improve the look.

"Well, you look very nice, Swiftstrike, Dr Syn and Frenzy have done a good job," said Barricade, making Sam jump. He looked around to see Barricade walking over to join Soundwave and Dr Syn.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Sam said. "You scared me!"

"I was not sneaking, you were too busy admiring yourself. With Soundwave and Dr Syn here you're probably safe to lose focus, but it might be an idea to get used to being aware of your surroundings. As you're an obvious target, you should always be prepared for a potential attack."

"I was checking out the work done, not myself, and I must say I'm impressed, and very grateful to Frenzy and Dr Syn both for putting in the effort to make me some protective wear," Sam said. He pulled his T-shirt over the top of the turtle neck and stood. "There, I don't even look like I'm wearing protective gear, this is cool." He suddenly cried out in surprise as Barricade lunged at him, enclosing him in his fist and holding him high.

"That's as close as they need to get, Swiftstrike, and the armour you are wearing will not prevent you from being crushed," he said. He paused before putting Sam gently back down and stepping back. "Even when you _seem_ quite safe, be aware of potential escape routes, notice fire alarms, new people in areas who might be a threat, and anything out of the ordinary. Be aware of your surroundings, Swiftstrike, and you'll be more likely to avoid or react better to any threats, terrestrial or otherwise."

Sam nodded, remembering school fire alarms, and active shooter drills, and the earthquake safety drill his Dad occasionally still conducted, and the drills both Bases had run about what to do in the event of an attack by dissidents. "You're right, Barricade, I guess I've gotten complacent, or maybe only aware of the wrong things. I'll try to remember to know where I am in relation to everything and everyone in a situation."

"You've only been in a combat situation for a few years, and you're not military trained," Barricade allowed. "Just be aware, it's always a good idea, in a threat situation or not."

"Well right now, I think I need a meal, a shower, and a sleep, in that order," Sam said.

"What do you fancy tonight, Swiftstrike?" Barricade asked.

"Chinese sounds good, beef chow mein and some banana fritters?" Sam asked. "And are you sure you don't mind getting me food?"

"If I start minding, I'll tell you, but at the moment, no," Barricade said. He turned and exited. Sam turned to Soundwave and Dr Syn.

"I'm gonna take these off for now, I don't want to drop food over them before using them at the negotiations," Sam said, and quickly stripped off his upper garments and replaced the t-shirt, before roughly folding the protective wear and putting it in his area. Not that he'd used it to sleep in since arriving, it seemed that in Soundwave's chest he had no trouble getting to sleep. He wasn't sure if it was the smaller 'room' dimensions, the warm but not too warm temperature, or something else, but he wasn't complaining, and Soundwave didn't seem to mind.

Barricade returned with Sam's food and a selection of drinks; Sam thanked him and promised to unkink him early, when he got the time. Sam ate his food, as Soundwave told him he'd asked Hound to attend tomorrow morning, and about a few amendments he hoped would make the presentation text easier for the narrator. Then he went to the restroom before going for a shower, and brushed his teeth, changing from his day clothes into a tee he often wore at night, before wandering back through to the medic and Soundwave.

He yawned, as Soundwave bent and opened his chest, placing the air bed, which was stored inflated up against a wall, inside. "Swiftstrike-return?" he said, making the statement a question with an upward inflection, as he now did each night.

"Yes please," Sam said, and as Soundwave brought his hands down, stepped on to them. Soundwave lifted them and carefully placed the human into his Cassette compartment, as he had the last three nights. Sam curled up in the air bed as he had before, and again, within five minutes, was asleep.

"Swiftstrike-recharging," Soundwave told Dr Syn.

"Do you influence him, and make him sleep?" Dr Syn asked.

"Negative," Soundwave replied.

"Is it safe for him to sleep in there so close to your Spark?" the medic asked. "Humans are vulnerable to certain wavelengths of ionising radiation, some of which are emitted by our Sparks."

"Affirmative; Spark-force-shield-blocks-negative-radiation." Dr Syn spotted the unspoken statement in Soundwave's words.

"So there may be a factor in Spark energy that could be _positive_ for him?" Dr Syn said. Having never before heard of an organic spending so much time close to a Cybertronian spark, Dr Syn was in uncharted territory.

"Unknown,-but-no-danger," Soundwave stated, before turning and walking away.


	8. Chapter 8

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter 8.

Sam woke from his sleep feeling refreshed, and ready to get on with stuff. As he stuffed his pillows down the air bed where they were stored until needed, he wondered if he should try something new. As he had observed before, being ejected from Soundwave's chest when healthy and prepared was fun, and he wondered if he could try and add something to it to give himself a bit more style. Not that many would get to see it, but he was curious for himself, a bit of a challenge, maybe?

He thought hard about his intentions for a few minutes, and about how he hoped Soundwave could still catch him if he didn't quite manage it, and then stood on the ejection platform.

"Swiftstrike-eject," Soundwave said, and Sam felt the now-familiar flexion of the device, and then felt himself launched into the air, which was also now a more familiar feeling. He pushed himself smaller and tucked himself into a ball, trying to execute the perfect somersault and graceful emergence he could see in his mind-

Something went wrong when he was almost over, he felt his body wobble and tilt to one side, and it was instinctive to uncurl. Being back-down meant he was in an awkward position already and as he twisted, he wondered how badly the landing would hurt-

Soundwave's hands plucked him from the air, righted him, and he felt his feet touch the worktable beneath him as Soundwave carefully set him down gently with barely a bump. Although he didn't say anything out loud, he mentally shouted his gratitude, and thought he felt more than heard a mental reply. He shrugged that off, thinking it was just his imagination.

"Gonna get breakfast, then I'll be back," Sam said, going to his area. He scarfed down a couple of handfuls of cereal, and put a couple of pop tarts in the toaster he'd asked for and received, and when they popped up, he quietly cursed as he juggled them from hand to hand until they were cool enough to eat. Once they were, he ate them, and washed it all down with a bottle of water, before putting on his clothes, minus the turtleneck.

He had initially thought of wearing it, but decided with Hound attending, it may be prudent not to; he trusted Soundwave to check Hound, and didn't need any more rumours about him regarding the relationship he had with Soundwave and the Decepticons circulating around the Autobot Base. Wearing the turtleneck to the negotiations was one thing, and would probably be understood, but he hoped Dr Syn would finish up on the Earth-design turtleneck pretty soon.

For now, he put on the light chain vest and then his hoodie over it, zipping it up. He figured getting used to wearing it would be a good thing. He grabbed his paper pad and pen from the room and headed for the main med bay.

He came out to see Starscream heading back out of the med bay, he must have just missed him. Dr Syn must have seen him and the direction of his gaze, for he said "He's gone to greet Hound, here, Swiftstrike, it's finished." He handed down another turtleneck, this one with the Chevy logo, and an image of the car Bumblebee had scanned on the upper arms, front, and back to conceal the power units. Sam was rather pleased with the designs, having expected generic images like guitars, skulls, or motorbikes to be used, none of which he was into. When it came to his bondmate, however...

"Wow, this is great, thanks!" he said, taking off the hoodie and putting the turtleneck on instead. Just as he'd settled the neck to his satisfaction, Starscream walked in, followed by Hound.

"Greetings, Autobot Hound, welcome to our Medbay, you know me, I presume you know Soundwave, and I know you know Swiftstrike. The brown mech you probably don't know is our medic, Doctor Syn. We will drink together as is traditional to show we have no aggressive intent to each other; we may be at ceasefire, but recent events at your own Base have shown itchy fingers and deep distrust is still a thing."

Starscream drew a cube of energon, drank from it, and handed it to Soundwave. Soundwave took a drink (or at least he put the cube to his faceplate, and the visor moved, and the energon level in the cube reduced), and then Dr Syn drank. The rest of the cube was given to Hound, while Dr Syn fetched a bottle of bourbon from somewhere and a glass for Sam. Sam poured himself two fingers, and drank it back in one, coughing and spluttering as he was unused to drinking the strong spirit. When he'd stopped, wiping his eyes, he could see that all the Cybertronians were trying not to be amused, even Soundwave, although with his faceplate, it wasn't as obvious.

"So, Swiftstrike, would you like to read out what you'll be telling the humans, at the negotiations, so Hound knows what he'll need to produce and project?" Starscream asked.

"Um, sure'," Sam said, grabbing at the pad of paper he'd written his narration out on the day before. He turned to the page and began to read.

"The idea of colonising other worlds is attractive to everybody, and Cybertron had several such colonies. However, as such, they have experience with the various difficulties inherent in such a venture. They are willing to give aid, but have a presentation here to show you what pitfalls may exist, and the steps they will take to avoid humans falling victim to them..."

Several hours later, Hound had run up a basic visual depiction of Sam's explanation, thus a basic framework to work upon, and he suggested that he take Sam back to the Autobot Base with him to work on finishing up the projections, as the narration wording was done. Sam could return a few days later with Hound and the almost-finished holo projections, and they could make any changes or necessary edits that day before the next round of negotiations.

Starscream and Soundwave agreed, and Sam did a quick unkink on the Cassettes, who all hugged or rubbed against him in gratitude and apparent friendship. Sam thanked Frenzy for his part in designing and making the two turtleneck tops, explaining he'd be wearing the current one and leaving the first here to wear for the actual negotiations. He chatted with Soundwave a short time before being picked up to give Soundwave's face plates an affectionate caress. Then he had a quick meal and said a quick farewell to both Starscream and Barricade before departing with Hound in his alt for the Autobot Base.

"So, Prime tells me you've sort of been adopted by Soundwave?" Hound said. Sam nodded, and said "Yes, it seems that by trying to protect his Cassettes, and then my blood mixing with their energon, it sort of makes me their brother in Soundwave's optics, and he, and they, feel responsible for me. And before you ask, no, it shouldn't compromise my loyalty to the Autobots and humans, no matter what Red Alert or anyone else may have said."

"Hey, Sam, I didn't, and wouldn't say otherwise. Prime explained things a bit, I was just trying to make what you humans call 'small talk', but I guess if that's how you're going to react, I'm doing it wrong, so I won't bother." The last thing Sam wanted was to upset another of his Autobot allies, so he rushed to reassure Hound.

"No, it's not you, it's me, I'm sorry, almost being shot at over it has made me a bit defensive, I'm afraid. Most human small talk starts differently, like 'how are you?' And the only polite response, even if your day hasn't been great, is to say 'I'm okay' or something similar."

"Why ask the question if you don't want to know the answer if it differs from what's polite?" Hound asked, and Sam could hear the confusion in Hound's voice.

"That's a difficult one to answer and I guess it comes down to manners and ritual. It's a meeting and greeting ritual, and in it, it's polite to say you're okay. Sad to say, most humans you meet in the street don't _want_ to hear if you're not alright, not really, it's a politeness thing. If it's someone you know well, and you know they don't mind, it's okay to be truthful, but with acquaintances, it's polite to let them know you're okay, and polite for them to say the same. Then duty is done. It's not usual to open small talk with what's actually more serious talk. Small talk usually starts with 'Hello, how are you?', just to start the conversation."

"So, okay, Sam, let's try again?" Hound said. "Hi there, how are you?"

"I'm fine thanks, how are you?" Sam said, playing along. "So what have you been doing with your day?" Hound didn't answer at first, but then said "My day has been unusual, but it's not been bad. What have you been doing with yours?"

"Working on a project about colonisation," Sam said, and smiled. "Yep, you got it. As you know the situation, you would have then brought up my adoption, and as long as I'm not stressed about it, I would respond, probably more politely. Like 'Yes, I was, it was unexpected, but it has it's complications', possibly with a bit more explanation, but not as snappily as I replied to you."

"Maybe we should continue this in the rec-room, because we're here," Hound said.

Sam was surprised and relieved to realise they were so swiftly back, even if the awkward moment was now over, and nodded his agreement.

"Sure, let me get you an energon, and we can continue our talk there. People will probably want to know how it went, so we can satiate their curiosity together," Sam suggested, hoping this would go better than the last time he got someone an energon.

"Hey, thanks, Sam," Hound said, letting Sam out as he got through the gate, transforming into robot form, and then picking the human up.

Hound was correct; as they headed into the rec-room, many of the other occupants gravitated towards them, as Hound drew himself a cube, marking it down by Sam's name on the nearby board, before getting Sam a bottle of soda and a cup, and finding himself a seat. Sam sat down nearby, pouring himself a cup of the fizzy drink. Hot Rod and Cliffjumper were there, as was 'Bee, and so was Red Alert. Mirage, Ironhide, and Bluestreak were there too, as were Elita and her ward, Firestar.

'Bee came over, and picked Sam up, his optics flickering over the turtleneck and noticing the Camaro and car insignia. "I like your new look, Sam," he said.

"Anything for my bondmate," Sam said, caressing Bumblebee's hand. He'd tell him, and later Optimus, about the protective aspect of the clothing later, but he thought it was best not to broadcast the fact he had protective clothing in a Base where there could be dissidents listening, cloaked in a cheerful and friendly persona. Bumblebee played back an appreciative whistle, before setting Sam back down.

He looked up to see the curious 'bots closing in around them, but Elita reached him first. Sam had seen Elita and the other femmes but rarely upon his other visits to the Base, and they had always been polite, if a little distant, but today Elita seemed positively friendly.

"So, how's your day been today, in fact how has your week been?" she asked. Then almost as an afterthought, she added "Swiftstrike?" He didn't miss the slightly sharp and tense way she spoke his earned name, although there was no anger or malice in her tone.

Sam stiffened up, he'd thought his issues with Elita over, but then Bumblebee said "I think Sam prefers to be addressed by the name he was given by his human Creators, Elita, and I for one prefer to call people what they wish to be called."

"Well, why not call him Swiftstrike?" Red Alert said, in what Sam could tell was a forced joviality. "He has Decepticon family, a Decepticon rank, he's doing work for them, so why don't we use his Decepticon name?"

"Because, Red Alert, Sam is an ally of ours, who saved Optimus' life _twice_ ," Elita spoke up before either Sam or Bumblebee could speak up. "I myself had an issue with Sam when I landed, although Optimus explained to me that I didn't have all the facts. However, are you trying to make your own fears realise themselves?"

"What do you mean, Elita?" Red Alert asked.

"I mean, that if Sam keeps feeling threatened in the Base of his allies, and safer with the Decepticons, what's to stop him deciding that he's safer with them and actually going over to them?" Sam was about to reply that he wouldn't, but Elita didn't stop speaking. "Not that I think it's at all likely, Sam's loyalty has spoken for itself over the time he's been with us, but everyone has their breaking point, and being menaced by those you see as friends makes for a _very_ uncomfortable relationship. If Sam feels safer with the Decepticons, maybe that says more about _us_ than it does about Sam."

"I've just been working with the Decepticons, Red Alert, on a presentation for the humans. Does that make you doubt my loyalty too?" Hound asked.

"Well, no, we've fought together, and I know you better," Red Alert said.

"Well, _we_ know Sam, _Optimus_ knows Sam, and we _all_ trust him," Elita said. "If you have an issue with Sam, you have an issue with me, so speak to me about it, or shut the frag up." Elita glared at Red Alert before smiling at Sam. "I'm sorry, Sam, I was just joking with you, I didn't intend to cause any stress. Not that I realised anyone had an issue in the first place."

"For what it's worth, Sam's work is going to benefit Autobots and Decepticons both," Hound said, taking some of the heat off both Sam and Red Alert. "The humans want us to take them to planets to colonise, but we need to explain that not only have they got to be hospitable for humans, and not already inhabited by another sapient race, and inhabitable by humans now, we've got to look for potential _future_ threats. It's no good taking humans to a planet about to enter its next ice age, or that has an unstable orbit that will alternately bake and freeze the planet's surface, or whose sun is so unstable it could roast the planet if it gets too many sunspots at once. Nor is it good to settle them on a planet whose surface is scarred with many meteoric craters and has a lot of comets in the system, or a highly predatory, aggressive, and territorial species planetwide. We need to explain all this to them, without making them think we think they're stupid, that there's more to a habitable planet than soil, oxygen, and Earth-type water. That's the project Sam and I have been working on, so Sam and I would like to run it past you, any who care to listen, and see what you think. Could it use improvement? Is it too technical? Is it too, as Sam might put it, 'dumbed-down?"

"Let me call Lennox and Epps," Ironhide said, heading for the door. "If it's for humans, we should ask some humans for their input."

"Great idea," Sam said. "Grab a couple of the off duty soldiers, if they're okay with that, and bring them too. 'Bee, can you ask Ratchet if I have enough energon credits to get everyone here a cube?" Sam asked. Bumblebee commed Ratchet and had an answer soon enough.

"Ratchet says yes, and even if you didn't, you'd have enough rollover credits from the last three years to cover it."

"Okay, I'm getting you all an energon," Sam said. "You can see for yourself what we've worked on, and enjoy a drink while you watch, we'll probably make sure the human audience have some sort of drinks available if they wish."

An appreciative murmur from the assembled 'bots went up, and a couple shouted "Thanks, Sam," as they shuffled over to draw the energon. Bumblebee performed a head count, and marked down the number of required cubes against Sam's name.

At that moment, Ironhide came back in, with Epps and Lennox carefully carried in one hand, and two slightly more nervous human soldiers Sam didn't recognise in the other. Cliffjumper opened a cupboard where human sized items were kept for the few human visitors the 'bots entertained, and brought out chairs and more cups, which were put down for the humans, as Ironhide carefully lowered his hands so the four could step off. They looked a little disappointed when several bottles of soda were put down in front of them, but to avoid problems, it was rare that high grade energon, or alcoholic human beverages, were available in the rec-room. Optimus and Ratchet had access to some, and sometimes brought it through if there was cause, but that was unusual. High grade was available in limited amounts in the Medbay if it was wanted, but most were happy with the regular type.

Ironhide was followed by Ratchet and Prime, who had been alerted by comms from Bumblebee and Elita respectively. Sam pointed to them, looked over at 'Bee, and called "Energon for you, too," as Bee updated the total on the board. The scrum around the dispenser had cleared by now, so the two quickly got a cube each, thanking Sam, and Optimus put down some bottles of beer he'd brought from the fridge in his room by the humans, to their great relief, before going to and join the rest of the 'bots standing. For a moment there was just the sounds of the shuffling of robotic feet, and pops and clinks as the soldiers popped the caps off the beer with a key ring Epps had on him, and then silence as they all turned their attention back to Sam and Hound.

Sam turned to address them all.

"Now, this is just an unpolished rough version, so Hound will be adding better and improved graphics for the actual presentation, so please keep this in mind. We'd appreciate if you'd have a listen to this, and give us any thoughts or opinions on it, particularly relating to understanding, and any questions you have." He picked up his notes, cleared his throat, and began his narration, as Hound began showing the images he'd put together.


	9. Chapter 9

Soundwave's Greatest Hits, Volume Six.

Chapter Nine.

The rough presentation seemed to be well received by both 'bots and humans alike, and they had asked questions, which Sam had jotted down, and answered to the best of his ability. They had also given him some feedback, which Sam and Hound had taken on board. This had the unexpected but welcome effect of making the 'bots and humans feel more involved in the presentation, which seemed to improve their opinion of Sam, at least in the short term. Even Red Alert seemed to be less down on Sam in general, though Sam wasn't sure how long this would last

Once the crowd dispersed, and Sam had finished taking notes, Sam looked up at Bumblebee.

"How about you have another energon on me, and we find a quiet corner, and spend some time together, while we have it? You can tell me any news, and we can just chill out together."

"Sure Sam, and thanks," Bumblebee said, drawing himself a cube, noting it down, and then picking up Sam. He found an unoccupied spot, put Sam down, grabbed him a chair that had been vacated by one of the soldiers from earlier, and sat down opposite Sam. Sam sat in the chair and sipped his drink.

"I have a couple of things to tell you, Bee, but I'd rather tell you about them somewhere a little less public," he said, briefly shooting a glance at where Red Alert stood ten feet away. He had his back to Sam and appeared completely disinterested in their conversation, but Sam was sure the paranoid 'bot wouldn't be above eavesdropping on their conversation. Bumblebee followed the direction of Sam's gaze, and gave a barely perceptible nod to show he understood.

"Well, there's not much to tell you here either, Sam, you've only been gone a few days, except that we _are_ expecting a landing within the next few days. I hope you get on with the new person, but he's part of a different clan of Cybertronians who have beast modes instead of vehicle modes. They've never really been hiders, more fighters, and I can't think of many Earth animals you might have seen that they resemble, as a point of reference. Members of this clan can be difficult to get on with, and Grimlock, as a leader, a position he's had to fight to both gain and retain, can be a bit pricklier than most." He paused. "It does appear animals who used to exist on your planet most closely resemble their beast modes, the extinct beasts mostly known as "dinosaurs" although some flighted and aquatic adapted varieties also exist."

"Sounds like he could have issues blending in," Sam said.

"Grimlock isn't really one to _blend_ _in_ , Sam, something Optimus will have to find some solution for. He's not really one for authority. He doesn't actually _like_ Optimus but he does _respect_ him, and when it comes down to it, he'll fight for what is right. He respects strength, but despises strength used to do an injustice to the weak. Grimlock comes across as rather simple to some, but he's actually a lot more complex than you might think."

"He, and the other dinosaur types will be something to look at, I imagine, if at a distance and with great respect," Sam said. "Maybe I won't have to interact with him too closely, or maybe I can try and find some way to make friends."

"Grimlock only has friends amongst others of the clan, and even then they have fallings-out. Just be respectful and hope he's respectful to you, too," Bumblebee advised the human.

"I'll do that," Sam said.

"I'm impressed with your presentation, Sam," said 'Bee, changing the subject. "It looks like you and Hound have been working hard. You might want to think of taking a break. Maybe we should head back to your house tomorrow? I've been going every day to make it look occupied, but I'm sure your parents would appreciate you going there to make sure it's okay and show someone is going in and out in their absence."

"I guess you're right," Sam said. "They did give me a key and say I could pop in whenever, and did say if I could check in while they're away, they'd appreciate it."

"Is that why you're either here or with the Decepticons recently?" a voice came from behind them, and Sam saw Red Alert _had_ managed to creep closer, but was making no effort to hide the fact he'd been eavesdropping.

"Pretty much, my parents have gone away for a holiday, for just over three weeks," Sam said. "I'd feel pretty alone if I stayed in their house all that time on my own."

"Where have they gone?" the white and red mech queried.

"Somewhere in Mexico, I don't know where, they want safety and comfort, so they've probably gone to some of the touristy bits. I believe they're starting with a coach tour, but I'm sure Mom insisted on a beach as part of it, and I know they are both happy to experiment with food," Sam said, not sure why Red Alert wanted to know, but seeing no harm in giving him what scanty details he knew of.

"I hope they'll be safe, there are stories of gangs in Mexico who kidnap tourists for ransoms, don't you worry about them and their safety?" the mech asked.

"I think that's partly why they've gone on a coach tour, safety in numbers and all that, plus the routes are probably well patrolled to keep them safe. If tourism takes a hit, the Mexican economy suffers, so I think the police try to ensure their tourist routes are safe," Sam said.

"Well, I guess that must be a relief to you, to know they should be safe," Red Alert said.

"It is rather," Sam replied, hoping the security officer was beginning to at least tolerate, if not actually trust him. "I was wondering, could you call Hound over? If I want to go home tomorrow, I need to know he doesn't need me here to help him with the holo presentation," Sam said.

Red Alert didn't answer audibly, but Sam saw his optics dim as he sent a com, and a moment later, Hound came over, and Red Alert moved away.

"What is it, Sam, Red said you wanted to talk with me," Hound said.

"Well, I was thinking I could pop back to my parent's home while they're on a long holiday, but I don't want to disappear if you need me. Will you need me tomorrow when working out the holographic display?"

"I shouldn't, Sam, but maybe we can work together for a couple of hours in the morning as I refine the images and work on the timings to go with your narration before you go?" Hound asked.

"That should be fine. Will you be around in" - Sam checked his watch - "eleven hours? I don't know when you last recharged, and don't want to rouse you before you're done," Sam said.

"I recharged last night, I didn't know how long the Decepticons would need me, or what recharge facilities they have, or how long they'd need me to stay, so I recharged and am now good for five days, seven at the outside," he said. "After those two hours you head off, I'll be fine. Don't worry, Sam, I'll work you hard before you go. I'll book the video room for nine tomorrow?"

"Sure," Sam said, ending the word with a prodigious yawn. When he opened his eyes after it, he saw both Bumblebee and Hound looking at him in concern.

"Why don't you get in an early night, Sam, you've got our two hours and then going to your parent's home afterwards, and I know you worked hard today," Hound said.

"Okay, it might be an idea to take you up on that idea," Sam said, as Bumblebee's optics brightened. Sam knew this usually indicated an incoming comm, but also knew it could be disabled in situations where it could be dangerous or inconvenient, so guessed Bumblebee didn't mind him seeing it.

"Who's just commed you, 'Bee?" Sam asked.

"Ratchet, he's asked if he can see you today," Bumblebee told him. "He wants to check your back."

"It's almost totally healed, no worries there, but knowing I might be scratching particles of grenade out of my back gor a bit is a bit unsettling, even if they are almost microscopic," Sam said, wriggling in discomfort even at the thought. "But sure, I'll see him, if only just to put his mind at rest. I guess I'll never need health insurance if he wants to be my medic, and that's reassuring, the costs of health insurance are terrifying now, let alone in twenty or thirty years time!"

Bumblebee finished his cube, and Sam mimicked him, draining his cup of soda, before the yellow and black scout moved to crouch before Sam, hands out, and Sam happily climbed into them. Bumblebee stood, holding Sam close to his chest, which Sam noticed was pleasantly warm. Bumblebee took Sam out of the Rec-room, and through to Ratchet.

"Ah, Bumblebee, I see you got my message and relayed it to Sam. Now, I just want to scan you Sam, so you won't need to get embarrassed over that ridiculous nudity taboo of your society. Just turn slowly when I say, please."

Sam was put down on Ratchet's worktable, and complied, turning when Ratchet asked him to. Ratchet performed three different sets of scans on Sam before he dismissed he and 'Bee both with a surprisingly genial "Off you go and rest, goodnight."

"Is Optimus Prime available?" Sam asked. "I have something to say I think he should know about, and to 'Bee, too, but it's not something I want too many people to know about, and the less people who know about it, the better," Sam said apologetically. Ratchet didn't make a noise of annoyance, or give any indication he felt slighted by Sam not even revealing what he said to him, just sent a com, his optics dimming as he did so. His optics briefly brightened a moment later.

"He's expecting you, go right through," Ratchet said.

'Bee and Sam left, Sam in Bumblebee's hands, and as they approached Optimus' office door, the door swished open to permit them entry, and closed again behind them. Optimus stood by his energon dispenser, drawing two cubes, and as Bumblebee put Sam down on Optimus's desk by the provided chair, Sam saw that a selection of cups and beverages, including beer, had been set out for him to choose from. Sam decided soda would do, sat down, and opened a bottle of the brand and flavour that appealed with a noisy hiss.

Optimus handed Bumblebee a cube of energon, and turned to regard Sam. "Ratchet informs me you have something to tell me that needs to be kept between you, myself, and Bumblebee. I have checked the room for listening devices and found none, and can generate white noise by the door and window. I have also switched off my comms and locked the door. Will this be sufficient security?"

"Should be, it's not super top secret, but as I said to Ratchet, the fewer who know about it, the better." He put down his soda, peeling off the turtleneck to reveal the chain link vest beneath, removing that too. "Soundwave and Dr Syn, the medic, thought these would be a sensible precaution, the vest will protect me against projectiles, the turtleneck will absorb one laser blast to buy me time if needed. As we don't know if we have any dissidents on Base - or will _get_ any - they think it's a wise precaution. I do have another of the laser blast protection tops, with my rank and designation, and Decepticon symbols on the front, back and tops of shoulders, to be worn during the negotiations, and probably around the Decepticon Base. The designs appear decorative, but actually hide the fact there are power cells there to absorb a laser blast."

Optimus put his hand out, and Sam gave the Autobot Leader the garments, putting them carefully into the great hand. Optimus looked at and gently felt them, and passed them to Bumblebee, who also looked at and gently touched them, before passing them back to Sam with an approving nod. Optimus waited until Sam had put both garments back on before speaking again.

"It is a good idea, and also a good idea to keep this knowledge down to a need to know basis for the reasons you mention. Thank you for letting us know," Optimus said.

"Do you think I should inform Ratchet, he didn't seem offended, but-"

Optimus cut Sam off.

"Ratchet is not offended, he understands the importance of need to know, and should not need to know unless you are injured, in which case I shall inform him," Optimus said.

"Thank you for telling me, too, Sam, it eases some of my worries. Thanks for feeling I am need to know," Bumblebee said.

"You're my bonded, you're top of the need to know list," Sam said, draining his cup of soda and standing. Bumblebee picked up Sam from where he stood, lifted him to his face and gently buzzed him with his microphone affectionately, making the human wriggle.

"Thanks, Optimus Prime, we're heading to recharge right now, but going back to my parents' house tomorrow for a few days, so I'm not sure when I'll see you again," Sam said.

"Until then, Sam, Bumblebee, goodnight and farewell," Optimus said, opening the door so the two could exit.

They headed directly for Bumblebee's assigned room, which had some large privacy screens erected in one far corner, and a bed, table and chair, Portaloo, and chest of drawers for Sam behind them. Sam went straight there when Bumblebee put him down, and went to change. He did wonder if he should sleep in the garments in case of emergency, but decided to put them within arm's reach on the offside of the divan bed as a compromise, moving the table closer and throwing a couple of sheets over it which hung to the floor to give him a hidey hole long enough to don them if needed. He snorted derisively; the likelihood of someone not only bursting into Bumblebee's room by either overriding or blasting the lock was remote, and the chance of them getting past Bumblebee to harm him was more remote still. If he carried on like this, he'd be as paranoid as Red Alert! However despite his thoughts, he didn't remove the sheet and kept his hidey hole. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

He got into his PJ's and came to sit by 'Bee for a short time, but after a while, his yawns were such that Bumblebee told him to go to bed, and lay down on his own pallet, allowing himself to drop into first level shutdown to conserve energy. However, when he got to bed, Sam found he couldn't sleep, no matter how many sheep he counted, or how blank he tried to make his mind. In the end, after over an hour of tossing and turning, he got up and went out into Bumblebee's side of the room.

Being in such light shutdown, Sam's presence roused the mech, who brightened his optics and lifted his head, making a querying sound.

"Shush, 'Bee, it's okay, I just can't sleep, there's no problem or danger. Heya buddy, would you mind if I curl up next to you, and see if that helps? I know I sometimes sleep in you in car form at home, but I'd like to give this a try, seeing as we're bonded and all that?" he asked. Bumblebee nodded, shifting slightly in his pallet and tilting his body forwards, so Sam could crawl under him and snuggle up to him. As he did, Bumblebee brought a hand up to hold Sam gently by him, and quietly hum him a calming tune.

Curled up by his bonded, held close by his hand, his brain soothed by the music, and his body warmed by the proximity of Bumblebee's Spark, the human quickly fell asleep.


End file.
